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Wanderlust Has German Roots
"For my part," writes Robert Louis Stevenson in Travels with a Donkey, "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." Sounds like a case of wanderlust if we ever heard one. Those with wanderlust don't necessarily need to go anywhere in particular; they just don't care to stay in one spot. The etymology of wanderlust is a very simple one that you can probably figure out yourself. Wanderlust is a lust for wandering. The word comes from German, in which wandern means "to hike or roam about," and Lust means "pleasure or delight."
Examples of wanderlust in a Sentence
Valerie Mesa, People.com, 17 Oct. 2024
Mermaids, octopi, and shells at Etro, Tory Burch, and Chloé were expressive of a collective sense of wanderlust focused on ocean-side adventures.
—José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 11 Oct. 2024
By the 17th, Venus in Sagittarius will be in your ninth house, inspiring you with wanderlust and a desire for spontaneity in your love life.
—Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 23 Sep. 2024
Disney’s 'The Little Mermaid' May 22-July 13, 2025 A mermaid with wanderlust falls head over heels for a prince and makes a deal with a sea witch to acquire human legs.
—Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wanderlust 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wanderlust.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Wanderlust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wanderlust. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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wanderlust
noun
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