To travel, wander or move around, seeking pleasure aimlessly. To have many different romantic partners, regularly moving from one to another.

Etymology: The word Gallivant likely comes from the 14th-century word gallant, used to describe a fashionable young man. By The 16th-century, it had evolved into a verb used to describe the process of obtaining a lover’s heart, to gallant, a synonym of to court. According to Merriam-Webster, Etymologists believe the spelling of the verb gallant was changed to create the word gallivant, originally meaning “to act as a gallant” or “to go about usually ostentatiously or indiscreetly with members of the opposite sex.” Oxford English dictionary describes it as “to gad about in a showy fashion.”

With this definition, its origin from the old and no longer used German word gadling refers to a vagabond, implying a disreputable nature. Modern usage has more often seen the word used to describe wondering than romantic endeavors.

In a Sentence

A child will often gallivant around the park.

A recent graduate was free to gallivant across the globe.

He abandoned his family to gallivant the countryside.