What does gallivanting mean?

What does gallivanting mean?

Gallivanting comes from the verb gallivant. The dictionaries word it differently, but they agree on the core: going about from place to place for fun.¹²³

• Merriam-Webster defines gallivant as to travel, roam, or move about for pleasure, and labels it informal.¹
• Cambridge describes going to lots of different places to enjoy yourself, without worrying about the other things you ought to be doing. It labels the word humorous.²
• Dictionary.com (American entry) describes wandering about in search of pleasure or diversion, and gives gad as a one-word equivalent.³
• Collins (British entry, as shown on Dictionary.com) describes going about in search of pleasure, and gives gad about as an equivalent.³

It is an intransitive verb: you gallivant somewhere, around or about, but you do not gallivant something. Cambridge notes it is usually followed by an adverb or preposition, as in gallivanting around.¹²

Its forms are gallivant, gallivants, gallivanted and gallivanting. Gallivanting is the present participle, the -ing form you use in phrases such as “they have been gallivanting” or “off gallivanting again” (our own examples).³

Someone who gallivants can be called a gallivanter; Dictionary.com and Wiktionary both list the noun.³⁶

Where does the word gallivant come from?

Nobody is completely sure, but the sources point the same way: to gallant. Merriam-Webster says gallivant is perhaps an extended form of gallant, and Dictionary.com says perhaps a fanciful alteration of it. The Online Etymology Dictionary calls it of uncertain origin, perhaps a playful elaboration of gallant, in an old verb sense meaning to play the gallant, flirt or gad about.¹³⁴

Merriam-Webster explains the chain. In the 14th century the noun gallant, borrowed from French, meant a fashionable young man; later it meant such a man who liked the company of women. In the late 17th century a verb gallant grew out of this, meaning roughly to court, and that verb is the likely source of gallivant.¹

So the word moved from romance to roaming. Merriam-Webster says gallivant first meant to act as a gallant, and today more often describes wandering for pleasure than romancing.¹

The dates do not agree, and we have not seen the original printed texts, so we give all three rather than choose one. All three put the word in the early nineteenth century.⁴³¹

How do you pronounce and spell gallivant?

Most dictionaries put the stress on the first syllable: GAL-uh-vant. Dictionary.com and Wiktionary also give an American pronunciation with the main stress on the last syllable.²¹³⁶

The usual spelling is gallivant, with a double l. Merriam-Webster lists galavant as a less common variant; Dictionary.com lists galivant and galavant as rare; the Online Etymology Dictionary lists galavant; and Wiktionary lists galavant and gallavant.¹³⁴⁶

Is gallivanting positive or negative?

Mostly light-hearted, sometimes a gentle telling-off. Cambridge labels the word humorous and Merriam-Webster labels it informal.²¹

The disapproving edge comes from what the definitions add. Cambridge says you are not worrying about the things you should be doing, and one of Merriam-Webster's example sentences has someone gallivanting around the country when he ought to be looking for a job.²¹

There is also an older meaning about romance. Merriam-Webster marks it as dated: going about, usually showily or indiscreetly, with members of the opposite sex. Wiktionary marks its flirting sense as obsolete, while Dictionary.com still lists a romantic sense.¹⁶³

The dictionaries give labels such as humorous and informal, not strict rules, so whether gallivanting sounds warm or scolding depends on who says it and how.²¹

How do you use gallivanting in a sentence?

These example sentences are our own, written for this page. They are not quoted from any dictionary, and the people in them are made up.

• After the conference, Tom went gallivanting around Lisbon for a few days.
• They spent the autumn gallivanting across northern Japan, stopping wherever the leaves looked best.
• She saved all winter so she could gallivant around the Greek islands in May.
• “And where have you been gallivanting until this hour?” (the scolding use)

What are synonyms for gallivanting?

Merriam-Webster's dictionary entry gives wander, roam and stroll as synonyms of gallivant.¹ Its thesaurus adds more similar words, including drift, meander, rove, traipse, ramble, saunter, amble, cruise and gad (about).⁵

For one word, Dictionary.com gives gad, and Wiktionary also lists gad as a synonym.³⁶ So as -ing forms: wandering, roaming, rambling, traipsing, gadding about.

The thesaurus groups these words under a broader sense, moving from place to place aimlessly, so most of them do not carry the idea of doing it for pleasure on their own.⁵

How is gallivanting related to gadabout?

The two words sit close together. The Online Etymology Dictionary defines gallivant partly as to gad about, Dictionary.com gives gad as an equivalent, and Merriam-Webster's thesaurus lists gad (about) as a similar word.⁴³⁵ A gadabout is a person who gads about: see what gadabout means.

This site's name, Gallivanting Gadabout, joins the two words.

Want to go gallivanting?

If the word has you planning a trip, these pages help you choose when and where to go: the best-month finder, off-season Europe and off-season Japan.

What this page cannot tell you

• Dictionaries differ. Their wording, labels, pronunciations and first-use dates are not the same. Where they differ, we show each one rather than choosing.
• We have not seen the earliest texts. The first-use dates are the dictionaries' own; we did not check the original printed sources.
• Meanings change. Dictionaries update their entries; follow the links below for the current wording.
• One dictionary was blocked. Collins's own website refused our download, so its British definition is taken from the copy shown on Dictionary.com.

Related: What is a gadabout? · Best-month finder · Off-season Europe · Off-season Japan.