rant
[rant]
- to speak or declaim extravagantly or violently; talk in a wild or vehement way; rave: The demagogue ranted for hours.
Show More
- to utter or declaim in a ranting manner.
Show More
- ranting, extravagant, or violent declamation.
- a ranting utterance.
Show More
Origin of rant
First recorded in 1590–1600, rant is from the Dutch word ranten (obsolete) to talk foolishly
Synonyms
See more synonyms for rant on Thesaurus.com3. bombast, extravagance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rant
Contemporary Examples
As anybody who has seen his now famous rant on Parks and Recreation knows, Patton Oswalt can get a little obsessed.
An Uber driver went on an anti-gay, ant-American rant before physically assaulting his passenger.
A network insider insisted: “No expletives were uttered by Mr Mason in the recording of his rant.”
Far from a rant, her tone throughout is cool and methodical, and her critiques are couched more in sorrow than in anger.
There was that Twitter rant by Dan Haseltine, lead singer of Jars of Clay, supporting gay marriage.
Historical Examples
Through the whole range of rant he rages like a man inspired.
Is there any genuine conviction at the bottom of all this rant and raving?
There was no symptom of raving or rant; no vulgarity or bad taste.
Mystic London:Charles Maurice Davies
She knows her man, and when you rant and swear Can draw you to her with a single hair.
The Career of Katherine BushElinor Glyn
Crowne too was a poet, as is evident from Thyestes, in spite of repulsiveness and rant.
Thomas OtwayThomas Otway
rant
- to utter (something) in loud, violent, or bombastic tones
- (intr) mainly Scot to make merry; frolic
Show More
- loud, declamatory, or extravagant speech; bombast
- mainly Scot a wild revel
- Scot an energetic dance or its tune
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Dutch ranten to rave; related to German ranzen to gambol
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 rant
v.
c.1600, "to be jovial and boisterous," also "to talk bombastically," from Dutch randten (earlier ranten) "talk foolishly, rave," of unknown origin (cf. German rantzen "to frolic, spring about"). Related: Ranted; ranting. Ranters "antinomian sect which arose in England c.1645" is attested from 1651; applied 1823 to early Methodists. A 1700 slang dictionary has rantipole "a rude wild Boy or Girl" (also as a verb and adjective); to ride rantipole meant "The woman uppermost in the amorous congress" [Grose].
Show More
n.
"boisterous, empty declamation; fierce or high-sounding language without much meaning or dignity of thought; bombast; a ranting speech," 1640s, from rant (v.).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper