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gallivant

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 1 June 2009

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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1809, from gallant (“wooing women”),[1] originally in sense “to flirt”, broadened to mean “roaming without plan”.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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gallivant (third-person singular simple present gallivants, present participle gallivanting, simple past and past participle gallivanted)

  1. (intransitive) To roam about for pleasure without any definite plan.
    Synonym: gad
    • 1914, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 18, in Miss Billy – Married, page 214:
      Bertram, it is true, when he heard of the plan, rebelled, and asserted that what Billy needed was a rest, an entire rest from care and labor. In fact, what he wanted her to do, he said, was to gallivant – to gallivant all day long.
    • 2003, Bric Blastard Had It All, page 36:
      Rather than sit and gawk at my nonadoring mother and sister, I gallivanted outdoors until it was time to hit the sack.
    • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎[1]:
      The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows, throw out his impressive collection of rotting Jack-O-Lanterns from previous Halloweens and take out his garbage, as it’s attracting wildlife (cue moose and Northern Exposure theme song).
    • 2012, Debbi Rawlins, Barefoot Blue Jean Night, page 22:
      When she wasn't gallivanting about the globe, gathering interesting tidbits for her travel blog, she adored holing up for days at a time with a few pints of Häagen-Dazs, leaving only to go for a dip in the rooftop pool or for a workout in the building's fitness club.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To flirt, to romance.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “gallivant”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
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