wantonness

English

Etymology

wanton +‎ -ness

Noun

wantonness (usually uncountable, plural wantonnesses)

  1. (uncountable) The state or characteristic of being wanton; recklessness, especially as represented in lascivious or other excessive behavior.
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, ch. 16,
      The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness.
  2. (countable, dated) A particular wanton act.
    • 1882, John Gorham Palfrey, History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty, Little Brown (Boston), v. 3, p. 366,
      These were simply the wantonnesses of a dishonest man.
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