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
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
William Shakespeare
b
: a bewildering situation
those moral wildernesses of civilized life—Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Examples of wilderness in a Sentence
She enjoys hikes through the wilderness.
released the wolf back into the wilderness
Recent Examples on the Web
Rabbit Hole served as Kidman’s comeback after several years — Bewitched (2005), The Invasion (2007), The Golden Compass (2007), Nine (2009) — in the wilderness.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 27 June 2024
Hunt for fossils and ancient petroglyphs across 210,000 acres of wilderness on the border of Colorado and Utah.
—Elaine Glusac, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2024
Life Report: Just 23% of Earth’s wilderness remains A new paper in Nature adds urgency to the fight against climate change.
—Big Think, 24 June 2024
For an Angels team that has been lost in the wilderness for a decade, Neto is anchoring himself as king of the infield.
—Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for wilderness 
Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 27 June 2024
Hunt for fossils and ancient petroglyphs across 210,000 acres of wilderness on the border of Colorado and Utah.
—Elaine Glusac, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2024
Life Report: Just 23% of Earth’s wilderness remains A new paper in Nature adds urgency to the fight against climate change.
—Big Think, 24 June 2024
For an Angels team that has been lost in the wilderness for a decade, Neto is anchoring himself as king of the infield.
—Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for wilderness
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wilderness.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wilderness
Cite this Entry
“Wilderness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wilderness. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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
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