Adjacent Words

rant definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion [syn: harangue, rant, ranting]
2: pompous or pretentious talk or writing [syn: bombast, fustian, rant, claptrap, blah] v
1: talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner [syn: rant, mouth off, jabber, spout, rabbit on, rave]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: obsolete Dutch ranten, randen Date: 1601 intransitive verb 1. to talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner 2. to scold vehemently transitive verb to utter in a bombastic declamatory fashion • ranter noun • rantingly adverb II. noun Date: 1649 1. a. a bombastic extravagant speech b. bombastic extravagant language 2. dialect British a rousing good time

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. use bombastic language. 2 tr. & intr. declaim, recite theatrically. 3 tr. & intr. preach noisily. --n. 1 a piece of ranting, a tirade. 2 empty turgid talk. Derivatives: ranter n. rantingly n. Etymology: Du. ranten rave

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Runt Runt, n. [Written also rant.] [Scot. runt an old cow, an old, withered woman, a hardened stem or stalk, the trunk of a tree; cf. D. rund a bullock, an ox or cow, G. rind. Cf. Rother, a.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any animal which is unusually small, as compared with others of its kind; -- applied particularly to domestic animals. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A variety of domestic pigeon, related to the barb and carrier. 3. A dwarf; also, a mean, despicable, boorish person; -- used opprobriously. Before I buy a bargain of such runts, I'll buy a college for bears, and live among 'em. --Beau. & Fl. 4. The dead stump of a tree; also, the stem of a plant. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell. Neither young poles nor old runts are durable. --Holland.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rant Rant, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ranted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ranting.] [OD. ranten, randen, to dote, to be enraged.] To rave in violent, high-sounding, or extravagant language, without dignity of thought; to be noisy, boisterous, and bombastic in talk or declamation; as, a ranting preacher. Look where my ranting host of the Garter comes! --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rant Rant, n. High-sounding language, without importance or dignity of thought; boisterous, empty declamation; bombast; as, the rant of fanatics. This is a stoical rant, without any foundation in the nature of man or reason of things. --Atterbury.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(rants, ranting, ranted) 1. If you say that someone rants, you mean that they talk loudly or angrily, and exaggerate or say foolish things. As the boss began to rant, I stood up and went out... Even their three dogs got bored and fell asleep as he ranted on... 'Let's get it over and done with, and to hell with them,' he ranted. VERB: V, V on, V with quote • Rant is also a noun. Part I is a rant against organised religion. N-COUNT • ranting (rantings) He had been listening to Goldstone's rantings all night... N-VAR 2. If you say that someone rants and raves, you mean that they talk loudly and angrily in an uncontrolled way. I don't rant and rave or throw tea cups. PHRASE: Vs inflect [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Spout, declaim (boisterously), rave (in high-sounding phrases), vociferate, mouth, tear a passion to tatters. II. n. Fustian, bombast, rhodomontade, exaggeration, boisterous declamation.

Moby Thesaurus

absurdity, act, amphigory, assault, attack, babble, babblement, balderdash, barbarize, batter, bawl out, be angry, be excitable, be insane, be livid, be pissed, bellow, berate, bibble-babble, blabber, blather, blow a gasket, blow up, bluff, bluster, bluster and bluff, blustering, boastfulness, boil, bombast, bombastry, bounce, brag, bravado, browned off, brutalize, bully, bullying, burn, bustle, butcher, carry on, catch fire, catch the infection, chafe, claptrap, come apart, debate, declaim, demagogue, destroy, dote, double-talk, drivel, drool, elocute, excite easily, expatiate, explode, expound, fanfaronade, fiddle-faddle, fiddledeedee, fire up, flame up, flare up, flash up, flatulence, flip, flummery, flurry, fluster, folderol, fret, fudge, fume, fuss, fustian, gabble, galimatias, gammon, gasconade, get excited, gibber, gibberish, gibble-gabble, go into hysterics, go on, gobbledygook, grimace, ham, ham it up, hammer, harangue, have a conniption, have a demon, have a tantrum, hector, hectoring, highfalutin, histrionics, hit the ceiling, hocus-pocus, hold forth, hot air, huff, humbug, intimidate, intimidation, jabber, jargon, jaw, lash, lay waste, lecture, lexiphanicism, loot, maul, mouth, mug, mumbo jumbo, narrishkeit, niaiserie, nonsense, orate, out-herod Herod, overact, overdramatize, pack of nonsense, palaver, perorate, philippic, pillage, pissed off, pomposity, pontificate, prate, prattle, preach, rabble-rouse, rag, rage, rail, raise Cain, raise hell, raise the devil, raise the roof, ramble, ramp, rampage, rant and rave, rape, rate, rave, read, ream out, recite, rhapsody, rhetoric, rigamarole, rigmarole, riot, roar, rodomontade, roister, rollick, rubbish, ruin, run a temperature, run amok, run mad, sack, savage, seethe, side, simmer, sizzle, skimble-skamble, slang, slaughter, slaver, slobber, smoke, smolder, soapbox, sow chaos, speak, spiel, splutter, spout, sputter, stew, storm, stuff and nonsense, stultiloquence, swagger, swashbuckle, swashbucklery, take fire, take on, tear, tear around, terrorize, theatrics, throw a fit, throw away, tirade, trash, trumpery, trumpet, tub-thump, turgidity, turn a hair, twaddle, twattle, twiddle-twaddle, underact, vandalize, vapor, vaporing, violate, vituperate, vociferate, waffling, wander, wreck