errant vs arrant
Definitions
adjective
- uncontrolled motion that is irregular or unpredictable
- straying from the right course or from accepted standards
Examples
Lobefins today have dwindled to the lungfishes and the coelacanths ‘dwindled’ as ‘fish’, that is, but mightily expanded on land: we land vertebrates are aberrant lungfish.
He was a large, meaty, oily type of man — a kind of ambling, gelatinous formula of the male, with the usual sound commercial instincts of the Jew, but with an errant philosophy which led him to believe first one thing and then another so long as neither interfered definitely with his business.
He blocked errant pitches in the dirt, expertly framed borderline tosses, turning them into strikes and worked masterfully with pitchers.
Definitions
adjective
- without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
Examples
Some lucky local with an open fire had determined the evening warranted a little extra cheer, more than the central heating could provide, and had lit a small blaze on his hearth.
Minister for Defence Robert Hill talks with an Australian Army captain and warrant officer at a Middle East base.
I boxed, swam, sailed, rode horses, lived in the open an arrantly healthful life, and passed life insurance examinations with flying colours.
