arrant

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arrant^¹

/ˈæɹ(ə)nt/ UK
/ˈæɹənt/
/ˈɛɹənt/

Sounds like errant (Mary–marry–merry merger)

Where it comes from

A variant of errant, from Middle English erraunt [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer (“to walk (to); to wander (to); (figuratively) to travel, voyage”), and then:

* from Vulgar Latin iterō (compare Late Latin itinerō, itineror (“to travel, voyage”)), from Latin iter (“a route (including a journey, trip; a course; a path; a road)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”); and

* from Latin errāns (“straying, errant; wandering”), the present active participle of errō (“to rove, wander; to get lost, go astray; to err, wander from the truth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”).

The original sense was sense 3 (“roving around, wandering”). Due to the word being used to describe disreputable persons who wandered about (for example, arrant knave and arrant thief), it came to be used as an intensifier (sense 1: “complete; downright; utter”) and to have a negative meaning (sense 2: “very bad; despicable”).

adjective more arrant · arranter · most arrant · arrantest · errant

dated, with a negative connotation Complete; downright; utter. an arrant knave arrant nonsense
Similar: out-and-out, unmitigated, abject, frightful, absolute, prize, clean, arrant, categoric, categorical, complete, consummate
broadly, dated Very bad; despicable. [W]ho ſo forward to accuſe, to debaſe, to revile, to crow-treade an other as the arranteſt fellow in a country?
Similar: abysmal, atrocious, awful, bad, chronic, coarse, corny, crap, crapalicious, crappy, crummy, deityforsaken · Opposite: acceptable, agreeable, all right, amazing, as fine as Dick's hatband, awesome, beatific, bene, blissful, bodacious, bona, brilliant
obsolete Obsolete form of errant (“roving around; wandering”). Hence arrant preachers, humming out / A common-place or two, […]

Arrant^²

proper noun Arrants

A surname.

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MLA

"arrant." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/arrant. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

arrant. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/arrant

Chicago

"arrant." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/arrant.

BibTeX

@misc{arrant_2026,
  title = {arrant},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/arrant},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}