Wantonness

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Wantonness \Wan"ton*ness\, n.
     The quality or state of being wanton; negligence of
     restraint; sportiveness; recklessness; lasciviousness.
     --Gower.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           The tumults threatened to abuse all acts of grace, and
           turn them into wantonness.               --Eikon
                                                    Basilike.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Young gentlemen would be as sad as night
           Only for wantonness.                     --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  wantonness
       n 1: the trait of lacking restraint or control; freedom from
            inhibition or worry; "she danced with abandon" [syn: {abandon},
             {unconstraint}]
       2: the quality of being lewd and lascivious [syn: {licentiousness}]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  WANTONNESS, crim. law. A licentious act by one man towards the person of 
  another without regard to his rights; as, for example, if a man should 
  attempt to pull off another's hat against his will in order to expose him to 
  ridicule, the offence would be an assault, and if he touched him it would 
  amount to a battery. (q.v.) 
       2. In such case there would be no malice, but the wantonness of the act 
  would render the offending party liable to punishment.