1. Home
  2. Scrabble Dictionary. Word Meaning and Points

Arrant in Scrabble and Meaning

Lookup Word Points and Definitions

What does arrant mean? Is arrant a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is arrant worth? arrant how many points in Words With Friends? What does arrant mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for arrant

See how to calculate how many points for arrant.

Is arrant a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word arrant is a Scrabble US word. The word arrant is worth 6 points in Scrabble:

A1R1R1A1N1T1

Is arrant a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word arrant is a Scrabble UK word and has 6 points:

A1R1R1A1N1T1

Is arrant a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word arrant is a Words With Friends word. The word arrant is worth 7 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

A1R1R1A1N2T1

Our tools

Valid words made from Arrant

Jump to...

Results

6-letter words (1 found)

ARRANT,

5-letter words (3 found)

ANTAR,ANTRA,RATAN,

4-letter words (9 found)

ANTA,ARAR,ARNA,RANA,RANT,RATA,TANA,TARA,TARN,

3-letter words (8 found)

ANA,ANT,ART,NAT,RAN,RAT,TAN,TAR,

2-letter words (6 found)

AA,AN,AR,AT,NA,TA,

You can make 27 words from arrant according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

Definitions and meaning of arrant

arrant

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈæɹ(ə)nt/
  • (General American) enPR: ărʹənt
    • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA(key): /ˈæɹənt/
    • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /ˈɛɹənt/
  • (Mary–marry–merry distinction)
  • Homophone: errant (in accents with the Mary–marry–merry merger)
  • Hyphenation: ar‧rant

Adjective

arrant (comparative more arrant or arranter, superlative most arrant or arrantest)

  1. (chiefly with a negative connotation, dated) Complete; downright; utter.
    Synonyms: out-and-out, unmitigated; see also Thesaurus:total
  2. (by extension, dated) Very bad; despicable.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bad, Thesaurus:evil
    Antonyms: see Thesaurus:good
  3. Obsolete form of errant (“roving around; wandering”).

Usage notes

Although arrant is a variant of errant, their modern meanings have diverged. Arrant is used in the sense “complete; downright; utter” (for example, “arrant knaves”), while errant means “roving around; wandering” and is often used after the noun it modifies (for example, “knight errant”). The use of errant to mean “complete; downright; utter”, and arrant to mean “roving around; wandering”, is obsolete.

Alternative forms

  • errant (“complete; downright, utter”) (obsolete)

Translations

References

Further reading

  • “errant, arrant”, in Merriam–Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1994, →ISBN, pages 406–407.
  • William Safire (2006 January 22) “On Language: Arrant Nonsense”, in The New York Times Magazine‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 September 2021.
  • Paul Brians (2009) “arrant/errant”, in Common Errors in English Usage, 2nd edition, Wilsonville, Or.: William, James & Company, →ISBN.

Source: wiktionary.org