errant

American  

[er-uhnt] / ˈɛr ənt /

adjective

1. deviating from the regular or proper course; erring; straying.

2. journeying or traveling, as a medieval knight in quest of adventure; roving adventurously.

3. moving in an aimless or lightly changing manner.

   an errant breeze.

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errant British  

/ ˈɛrənt /

adjective

1. archaic wandering in search of adventure

2. erring or straying from the right course or accepted standards

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Other Word Forms

• errantly adverb
• nonerrant adjective
• nonerrantly adverb
• unerrant adjective
• unerrantly adverb

Etymology

Origin of errant

1300–50; Middle English erraunt < Middle French, Old French errant, present participle of errer, edrer to travel < Vulgar Latin *iterāre to journey, for Late Latin itinerārī, derivative of iter, stem itiner- journey ( see itinerary); confused with Middle French errant, present participle of errer to err

Explanation

Something or someone described as errant has gone astray or done wrong by going in an unexpected direction. An errant bird might end up in northern Canada while his friends fly to southern Mexico for the winter. Although errant is commonly used as a synonym for "misbehaving" or "naughty," it also refers to things that are just out of place. An errant bomb can hit a house instead of an army base, and an errant lock of hair can get in your eyes. Errant can be intentional, as in "the errant boys skipped school to go to the movies," or unintentional, as in "an errant snowball hit your neighbor instead of your arch enemy."

Example Sentences

But he managed to recover from errant tee shots and duly attacked when in position.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

And if AI agents are not kept on course by a human, they could misunderstand an instruction and wander down an errant processing path, resulting in a business paying for wasted computing power.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Bradley, Bryant wrote, directed “comprehensive lookbacks” on civilian casualties in errant strikes and used the findings to mandate changes.

From Salon • Mar. 11, 2026

But there’s no snow on the 101 Freeway near Thousand Oaks — which might come as a surprise to those who spied an errant travel alert from the California Department of Transportation.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

Never a tremor of wind, or a splash of rain, no errant snowflake comes to stain that heaven, so calm, so vaporless, the world of light.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

Related Words

• aberrant
• erratic
• offending
• stray
• unorthodox
• wayward