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arrant

[ar-uh nt]
See more synonyms for arrant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. downright; thorough; unmitigated; notorious: an arrant fool.
  2. wandering; errant.
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Origin of arrant

1350–1400; Middle English, variant of errant
Related formsar·rant·ly, adverb
Can be confusedarrant errant

Synonyms

See more synonyms for arrant on Thesaurus.com
1. thoroughgoing, utter, confirmed, flagrant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for arrant

Historical Examples

  • "I'm afraid you're an arrant little coquette," said Katherine indulgently.

    Viviette

    William J. Locke

  • But they are all arrant cowards, and fear to approach me—fear even to come into this wood.

    Green Mansions

    W. H. Hudson

  • This made me think that my correspondent was an arrant block-head.

    The Memoires of Casanova, Complete

    Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

  • If the old woman has got any arrant at all, it's likely it's to your mother and me.

  • He was an arrant coward like the most of his downtrodden race.

    Tess of the Storm Country

    Grace Miller White

British Dictionary definitions for arrant

arrant

adjective
  1. utter; out-and-outan arrant fool
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Derived Formsarrantly, adverb

Word Origin

C14: a variant of errant (wandering, vagabond); sense developed from its frequent use in phrases like arrant thief (hence: notorious)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for arrant

adj.

late 14c., variant of errant (q.v.); at first merely derogatory, "wandering, vagrant;" then (1540s) acquiring a meaning "thoroughgoing, downright, notorious."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper