Errant
adjective
Making a mistake or doing something wrong.
She was quick to correct her errant husband.
Often appears as...
- errant behavior
- errant child
adjective
Traveling in search of something.
The errant adventurer roamed across continents.
Often appears as...
- errant traveler
- errant adventurer
Usage tips
Literary
adjective
Not in the right place or going in the wrong direction.
The errant missile caused a lot of damage.
Often appears as...
- errant shot
- errant missile
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Making a mistake or doing something wrong.
She was quick to correct her errant husband.
Often appears as...
- errant behavior
- errant child
adjective
Traveling in search of something.
The errant adventurer roamed across continents.
Often appears as...
- errant traveler
- errant adventurer
Usage tips
Literary
adjective
Not in the right place or going in the wrong direction.
The errant missile caused a lot of damage.
Often appears as...
- errant shot
- errant missile
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Behavioral context
Use errant to describe actions that deviate from accepted standards or rules.
The team disciplined the errant player for breaking the curfew.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative connotation
Errant often implies a moral or ethical lapse rather than a simple mistake.
His errant ways led him to clash with the law.
Pro Tip 3/3Expressing correction
When correcting someone's 'errant' action, it suggests they significantly veered off course.
The manager addressed her errant employee's behavior in the meeting.
Pro Tip 1/3Behavioral context
Use errant to describe actions that deviate from accepted standards or rules.
The team disciplined the errant player for breaking the curfew.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative connotation
Errant often implies a moral or ethical lapse rather than a simple mistake.
His errant ways led him to clash with the law.
Pro Tip 3/3Expressing correction
When correcting someone's 'errant' action, it suggests they significantly veered off course.
The manager addressed her errant employee's behavior in the meeting.
Pro Tip 1/3Behavioral context
Use errant to describe actions that deviate from accepted standards or rules.
The team disciplined the errant player for breaking the curfew.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative connotation
Errant often implies a moral or ethical lapse rather than a simple mistake.
His errant ways led him to clash with the law.
Pro Tip 3/3Expressing correction
When correcting someone's 'errant' action, it suggests they significantly veered off course.
The manager addressed her errant employee's behavior in the meeting.
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Video examples
Sea Kayaking: A...
much energy an errant paddle stroke can lead to disaster when water flips a kayak the paddler first tries to roll upright if that fails the kayaker ditches the boat and starts swimming one of the big consequences of swimming out of your boat is just the loss of buoyancy and so being pulled down deeper in the water
Video examples
Robert Fischell: TED...
we sense there, that it's going to happen, and then we respond by applying an electrical energy at that spot, which erases the errant signal so that you don't get the clinical manifestations of the migraine headache.
Video examples
Sea Kayaking: A...
much energy an errant paddle stroke can lead to disaster when water flips a kayak the paddler first tries to roll upright if that fails the kayaker ditches the boat and starts swimming one of the big consequences of swimming out of your boat is just the loss of buoyancy and so being pulled down deeper in the water
Video examples
Robert Fischell: TED...
we sense there, that it's going to happen, and then we respond by applying an electrical energy at that spot, which erases the errant signal so that you don't get the clinical manifestations of the migraine headache.
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Jemima Khan
English Journalist
There's a theory about fame: the moment it strikes, it arrests development. Michael Jackson remained suspended in childhood, enjoying sleepovers and funfairs; Winona Ryder, an errant teen who dabbled in shoplifting and experimented with pills; George Clooney, a 30-year-old commitment-phobe, never quite ready yet to settle down.
Quote examples
Simon Toyne
British Writer
I figured if I write a modern thriller but spliced in the DNA of a classic western - the drifter who comes into town with secrets - I could do something interesting with both genres. Westerns are also an incarnation of the classic knight errant tale, the lone warrior with a moral code, and I love those types of stories.
Quote examples
Edward Zwick
American Director
I think every culture - you can call it an American Ronin, a medieval knight errant, you could talk about 'Shane.' There is an archetype that I think is actually common to a lot of cultures, and even the Clint Eastwood stuff was probably as influenced by the Japanese stuff, and yet done by an Italian.
Quote examples
Don Kardong
American Athlete
I've never owned an actual trail-running shoe myself, but maybe I should. My favorite paths are fraught with peril, much of it skulking at shoelace level. A rock, a root, an errant pine cone. Wham, and you're down, choking in dust and picking pebbles from wounds in your forearms and knees.
Quote examples
Philip Zimbardo
American Psychologist
Many cults start off with high ideals that get corrupted by leaders or their board of advisors who become power-hungry and dominate and control members' lives. No group with high ideals starts off as a 'cult'; they become one when their errant ways are exposed.
Quote examples
Jacob Rees-Mogg
English Politician
It has never been the case that a peerage can be extinguished, even for the lifetime of a peer, by a motion of the Lords. This does not mean that there are not effective ways of penalising errant peers.
Quote examples
J. Michael Bishop
American Scientist
Tests conducted before I graduated predicted a future for me in journalism, forestry, or the teaching of music; persons who know me well could recognize some truth in those seemingly errant prognoses.
Quote examples
Prashant Bhushan
Indian Lawyer
In order to keep the judiciary independent of the executive, the constitution provided impeachment as the only method for disciplining errant judges.
Quote examples
Valerie Plame
American Writer
North Korea is the errant teenage child, aren't they? Or toddler - they're holding their breath until they get their way.
Quote examples
Hilary Mantel
English Writer
My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant.
Quote examples
Jemima Khan
English Journalist
There's a theory about fame: the moment it strikes, it arrests development. Michael Jackson remained suspended in childhood, enjoying sleepovers and funfairs; Winona Ryder, an errant teen who dabbled in shoplifting and experimented with pills; George Clooney, a 30-year-old commitment-phobe, never quite ready yet to settle down.
Quote examples
Simon Toyne
British Writer
I figured if I write a modern thriller but spliced in the DNA of a classic western - the drifter who comes into town with secrets - I could do something interesting with both genres. Westerns are also an incarnation of the classic knight errant tale, the lone warrior with a moral code, and I love those types of stories.
Quote examples
Edward Zwick
American Director
I think every culture - you can call it an American Ronin, a medieval knight errant, you could talk about 'Shane.' There is an archetype that I think is actually common to a lot of cultures, and even the Clint Eastwood stuff was probably as influenced by the Japanese stuff, and yet done by an Italian.
Quote examples
Don Kardong
American Athlete
I've never owned an actual trail-running shoe myself, but maybe I should. My favorite paths are fraught with peril, much of it skulking at shoelace level. A rock, a root, an errant pine cone. Wham, and you're down, choking in dust and picking pebbles from wounds in your forearms and knees.
Quote examples
Philip Zimbardo
American Psychologist
Many cults start off with high ideals that get corrupted by leaders or their board of advisors who become power-hungry and dominate and control members' lives. No group with high ideals starts off as a 'cult'; they become one when their errant ways are exposed.
Quote examples
Jacob Rees-Mogg
English Politician
It has never been the case that a peerage can be extinguished, even for the lifetime of a peer, by a motion of the Lords. This does not mean that there are not effective ways of penalising errant peers.
Quote examples
J. Michael Bishop
American Scientist
Tests conducted before I graduated predicted a future for me in journalism, forestry, or the teaching of music; persons who know me well could recognize some truth in those seemingly errant prognoses.
Quote examples
Prashant Bhushan
Indian Lawyer
In order to keep the judiciary independent of the executive, the constitution provided impeachment as the only method for disciplining errant judges.
Quote examples
Valerie Plame
American Writer
North Korea is the errant teenage child, aren't they? Or toddler - they're holding their breath until they get their way.
Quote examples
Hilary Mantel
English Writer
My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant.
Example 1 of 10
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