arrant
Americanadjective
-
downright; thorough; unmitigated; notorious.
an arrant fool.
- Synonyms:
- flagrant, confirmed, utter, thoroughgoing
-
wandering; errant.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of arrant
1350–1400; Middle English, variant of errant
Explanation
The word arrant intensifies. An arrant criminal is one heck of a criminal. Arrant nonsense is total nonsense. Do you struggle for adequate superlatives? If so, you might want to add arrant to your arsenal. It can be used to add emphasis to other words, most often negative words. Arrant rudeness is extreme rudeness. Arrant hypocrisy is very hypocritical. An arrant liar is a world-class liar. Arrant has a meaning similar to complete or utter. Like other intensifiers, arrant turns up the volume on another word.
Vocabulary lists containing arrant
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Arrant puns" were the subject of attacks by the likes of Joseph Addison, 18th Century London's pre-eminent literary tastemaker. as debased witticisms and exulted that they had been "banished out of the learned world".
From BBC • Jan. 16, 2013
Compton Verney, to 31 Oct The Moon Is An Arrant Thief, London The moon gets a bad rap: last year the Hayward declared it "deceitful", and now it's a thief.
From The Guardian • Jul. 23, 2010
Arrant nonsense is the three-star billing of P.J.
From Time Magazine Archive
First I marries Ann Arrant, in 1898 dat was, and us have three chillen but dey all dead.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves. Texas Narratives, Part 2 by Work Projects Administration
Arrant nonsense it must have seemed to him, but to me it was simplicity itself.
From Out of a Labyrinth by Lynch, Lawrence L.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
