wanderlust

noun

wan·der·lust ˈwän-dər-ˌləst

: strong longing for or impulse toward wandering

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Wanderlust Has German Roots

"For my part," writes Robert Louis Stevenson in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, "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 wander, hike, or stray" and Lust means "pleasure" or "desire."

Examples of wanderlust in a Sentence

Wanderlust has led him to many different parts of the world.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Perhaps because the birds had flown north, no one thought at first that this juvenile wanderlust might be an expression of a latent migratory instinct. —

Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025 But retirements, major life events and sometimes a little wanderlust play a part, too. —

Charlottefive Staff, Charlotte Observer, 21 Jan. 2025 Red Bull is involved in 50 different sports and is represented by more than 800 athletes, so there will be plenty of opportunities to satisfy this wanderlust. —

Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025 Go online and virtually visit locations that interest you to determine where your wanderlust hunger takes you. —

Lisa Stardust, People.com, 5 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for wanderlust