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Arrant - 5 dictionary results

ar⋅rant

   [ar-uhnt]
–adjective
1. downright; thorough; unmitigated; notorious: an arrant fool.
2. wandering; errant.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME, var. of errant
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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ar·rant     (ār'ənt)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.   Completely such; thoroughgoing: an arrant fool; the arrant luxury of the ocean liner.


[Variant of errant.]

ar'rant·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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arrant 
c.1386, variant of errant (q.v.), at first merely derogatory, then (1550) acquiring a meaning "thoroughgoing, downright."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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arrant

adjective
without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers; "an arrant fool"; "a complete coward"; "a consummate fool"; "a double-dyed villain"; "gross negligence"; "a perfect idiot"; "pure folly"; "what a sodding mess"; "stark staring mad"; "a thoroughgoing villain"; "utter nonsense"; "the unadulterated truth" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Arrant

Ar"rant\, a. [OE. erraunt, errant, errand, equiv. to E. errant wandering, which was first applied to vagabonds, as an errant rogue, an errant thief, and hence passed gradually into its present and worse sense. See Errant.] Notoriously or pre["e]minently bad; thorough or downright, in a bad sense; shameless; unmitigated; as, an arrant rogue or coward.

I discover an arrant laziness in my soul. --Fuller.

2. Thorough or downright, in a good sense. [Obs.]

An arrant honest woman. --Burton.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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