gallivant.

1. To travel or move from place to place for pleasure rather than for a serious purpose.

2. To go about conspicuously or indiscreetly in romantic company, in a dated social use.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• gallivant around town
• gallivant across the country
• go gallivanting

On the page

While we unpacked, the children gallivanted around the harbor.

She spent the summer gallivanting across the country by train.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated prose. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: gallivant; gallivants or galavants; gallivanted or galavanted; gallivanted or galavanted; gallivanting or galavanting Commonness: moderately common (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Direct dictionary reading: travel/roam for pleasure, informal; a second dated indiscreet/ostentatious social-romantic use. Less common variant galavant explicitly read, with galavanted/galavanting/galavants. Modern recreation is primary; older social sense labeled. Individual usefulness checked for a precise literary, narrative, dialogue or critical function. Definitions and examples are original; commonness is an editorial estimate. Mood and intensity apply only to inherent qualities of the specific sense. Writing functions: recreational roaming, an amused or disapproving observer of someone out enjoying life. Third-person singular: gallivants or galavants.