adjective
arrant
AIR-unt/ˈærənt/
Complete or utter, especially in a bad quality.
The player hiding cards behind his back is an arrant cheat.
Etymology
From an ancestor meaning “traveling, roving,” arrant first carried the disparaging sense “wandering, vagrant.” It then became an intensifier meaning “downright” or “notorious,” emphasizing the completeness of a quality rather than literal wandering.
In context
my yacht, the _Lola_, and last night we unfortunately went aground on the Meloria. I have a new captain whom I engaged a few months ago, and he seems an arrant fool.
More examples
- He called the scheme arrant fraud.
- The witness exposed the statement as an arrant lie.
- Such arrant arrogance alienated even his closest allies.
Similar words
- utter
- A general intensifier that is not restricted to bad qualities.
- unmitigated
- Emphasizes that nothing lessens the negative quality.