wilderness

noun

wil·​der·​ness ˈwil-dər-nəs 

1

a(1)

: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings

(2)

: an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community

b

: an empty or pathless area or region

in remote wildernesses of space groups of nebulae are found

—G. W. Gray †1960

c

: a part of a garden devoted to wild growth

2

obsolete : wild or uncultivated state

3

a

: a confusing multitude or mass : an indefinitely great number or quantity

I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys

—William Shakespeare

b

: a bewildering situation

those moral wildernesses of civilized life

—Norman Mailer

Synonyms

• nature
• open
• open air
• out-of-doors
• outdoors
• wild

Examples of wilderness in a Sentence

She enjoys hikes through the wilderness.

released the wolf back into the wilderness

Recent Examples on the Web

Sip coffee out on the deck while taking in the jungle view, or venture off into the wilderness with your private access to the Captain Cook Trail. —Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 7 Dec. 2024

Turn them loose into that wilderness, come what may. —Lindsey Witmer Collins, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

Both were raised in a deeply abolitionist household in the wilderness of eastern Tennessee at the dawn of the 19th century. —TIME, 2 Dec. 2024

There’s a point near the start of Che Guevara’s classic travelogue The Motorcycle Diaries when the young Marxist revolutionary crosses from his native Argentina into the unknown wilderness of Chilean Patagonia. —Mark Johanson, Robb Report, 30 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from wildern wild, from Old English wilddēoren of wild beasts

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Phrases Containing wilderness

• wilderness area

Kids Definition

wilderness

noun

wil·​der·​ness ˈwil-dər-nəs 

: an area in which few people live that is not used for farming and is more or less in its natural state