errant
Americanadjective
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deviating from the regular or proper course; erring; straying.
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journeying or traveling, as a medieval knight in quest of adventure; roving adventurously.
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moving in an aimless or lightly changing manner.
an errant breeze.
adjective
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archaic wandering in search of adventure
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erring or straying from the right course or accepted standards
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of errant
1300–50; Middle English erraunt < Middle French, Old French errant, present participle of errer, edrer to travel < Vulgar Latin *iterāre to journey, for Late Latin itinerārī, derivative of iter, stem itiner- journey ( see itinerary); confused with Middle French errant, present participle of errer to err
Explanation
Something or someone described as errant has gone astray or done wrong by going in an unexpected direction. An errant bird might end up in northern Canada while his friends fly to southern Mexico for the winter. Although errant is commonly used as a synonym for "misbehaving" or "naughty," it also refers to things that are just out of place. An errant bomb can hit a house instead of an army base, and an errant lock of hair can get in your eyes. Errant can be intentional, as in "the errant boys skipped school to go to the movies," or unintentional, as in "an errant snowball hit your neighbor instead of your arch enemy."
Vocabulary lists containing errant
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Overall the Lakers committed 21 more turnovers, giving up 26 points off the mistakes while paying dearly for every errant dribble or misfired pass against the swarming Thunder defenders.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
Excuse them, like they popped out of his mouth like an errant burp.
From Slate • May 6, 2026
But he managed to recover from errant tee shots and duly attacked when in position.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
And if AI agents are not kept on course by a human, they could misunderstand an instruction and wander down an errant processing path, resulting in a business paying for wasted computing power.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
Boaz, who had at least the benefit of witnessing errant sheydim before, recovered first.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
