All 3 Uses of
wanton
in
Dracula
- The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness.†
p. 225.5 *
- When she advanced to him with outstretched arms and a wanton smile he fell back and hid his face in his hands.†
p. 226.2
- So he delay, and delay, and delay, till the mere beauty and the fascination of the wanton Undead have hypnotize him.†
p. 393.5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(wanton) of something considered bad: excessive, thoughtless indulgence -- such as waste, cruelty, violence, and (especially in the past) sexual promiscuity
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In classic literature, wanton can also describe people who are playful or plants that are growing profusely.