Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WAN'TON, a. [W. gwantan, apt to run off; variable, fickle, wanton; gwantu, to thrust, to sever; allied probably to wander.]

1. Wandering or roving in gayety or sport; sportive; frolicksome darting aside, or one way and the other. Wanton boys kill flies for sport. Note a wild and wanton herd. – Shak.
2. Moving or flying loosely; playing in the wind. She / Her unadorned golden tresses wore / Dishevel'd, but in wanton ringlets wav'd. – Milton.
3. Wandering from moral rectitude; licentious; dissolute; indulging in sensuality without restraint; as, men grown wanton by prosperity. – Roscommon. My plenteous joys / Wanton in fullness. – Shak.
4. More appropriately, deviating from the rules of chastity; lewd; lustful; lascivious; libidinous. Thou art forward by nature, enemy to peace, / Lascivious, wanton. – Shak. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton. – James v.
5. Disposed to unchastity; indicating wantonness. – Isa. iii.
6. Loose; unrestrained; running to excess. How does your tongue grow wanton in her praise! – Addison.
7. Luxuriant; overgrown. What we by day lop overgrown, / One night or two with wanton growth derides, / Tending to wild. – Milton.
8. Extravagant; as, wanton dress. – Milton.
9. Not regular; not turned or formed with regularity. The quaint mazes in the wanton green. – Milton.