wild
adjective
living in a state of nature; not tamed or domesticated.
wild
American
[wahyld]
/ waɪld /
adjective
-
wilder,
comparative
-
wildest
superlative
-
living in a state of nature; not tamed or domesticated.
a wild animal;
wild geese.
- Antonyms:
- tame
-
growing or produced without cultivation or the care of humans, as plants, flowers, fruit, or honey.
wild cherries.
-
uncultivated, uninhabited, or waste.
wild country.
-
uncivilized or barbarous.
wild tribes.
-
of unrestrained violence, fury, intensity, etc.; violent; furious.
wild strife;
wild storms.
- Synonyms:
- turbulent, frenzied, stormy, tempestuous
-
characterized by or indicating violent feelings or excitement, as actions or a person's appearance.
wild cries;
a wild look.
- Synonyms:
- boisterous
-
frantic or distracted; crazy.
to drive someone wild.
- Synonyms:
- insane
-
violently or uncontrollably affected.
wild with rage;
wild with pain.
-
undisciplined, unruly, or lawless.
a gang of wild boys.
- Synonyms:
- wayward, unrestrained, riotous, self-willed
-
unrestrained, untrammeled, or unbridled.
wild enthusiasm.
- Synonyms:
- uncontrollable
-
disregardful of moral restraints as to pleasurable indulgence.
He repented his wild youth.
-
unrestrained by reason or prudence.
wild schemes.
- Synonyms:
- rash, reckless, impracticable, extravagant
-
amazing or incredible.
Isn't that wild about Bill getting booted out of the club?
-
disorderly or disheveled.
wild hair.
- Synonyms:
- unkempt
-
wide of the mark.
He scored on a wild throw.
-
Informal. intensely eager or enthusiastic.
wild to get started;
wild about the new styles.
-
Cards. (of a card) having its value decided by the wishes of the players.
-
Metallurgy. (of molten metal) generating large amounts of gas during cooling, so as to cause violent bubbling.
adverb
noun
verb (used with object)
wilded,
wilding
idioms
-
run wild,
-
to grow unchecked.
The rambler roses are running wild.
-
to show lack of restraint or control.
Those children are allowed to run wild.
-
-
in the wild,
-
in a natural state or in the wilderness.
-
in the real world; in real life.
language learning in the classroom and in the wild.
-
-
blow wild, (of an oil or gas well) to spout in an uncontrolled way, as in a blowout.
wild
1
British
/ waɪld /
adjective
-
(of animals) living independently of man; not domesticated or tame
-
(of plants) growing in a natural state; not cultivated
-
uninhabited or uncultivated; desolate
a wild stretch of land
-
living in a savage or uncivilized way
wild tribes
-
lacking restraint
wild merriment
-
of great violence or intensity
a wild storm
-
disorderly or chaotic
wild thoughts
wild talk
-
dishevelled; untidy
wild hair
-
in a state of extreme emotional intensity
wild with anger
-
reckless
wild speculations
-
not calculated; random
a wild guess
-
unconventional; fantastic; crazy
wild friends
-
informal intensely enthusiastic or excited
-
(of a card, such as a joker or deuce in some games) able to be given any value the holder pleases
jacks are wild
-
-
rough; untamed; barbarous
-
(of theories, plans, etc) not fully thought out
-
adverb
-
in a wild manner
-
-
to grow without cultivation or care
-
to behave without restraint
-
noun
-
(often plural) a desolate, uncultivated, or uninhabited region
-
-
a free natural state of living
-
the wilderness
-
Wild
2
British
/ waɪld /
noun
wild
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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half-wildnessnoun
-
overwildnessnoun
-
semiwildnessnoun
-
unwildnessnoun
-
wildnessnoun
-
half-wildadjective
-
overwildadjective
-
semiwildadjective
-
unwildadjective
-
wildishadjective
-
half-wildlyadverb
-
overwildlyadverb
-
semiwildlyadverb
-
unwildlyadverb
-
wildlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of wild
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English wilde; cognate with Dutch, German wild, Old Norse villr, Swedish vild, Gothic wiltheis
Explanation
Something that's wild lives in nature and isn't tamed. Your pet poodle isn't wild, but the groundhog that lives under your garden shed is wild. An animal or plant in its native habitat is wild, like a wild dingo or a wild strawberry. An untamed bit of nature, like your overgrown back yard, or a stormy ocean, is also wild. If a person is wild, he might be unrestrained, crazy, or even enthusiastic — like someone who's wild about cabaret music. The term "to run wild" means to grow unrestrained, undisciplined, like a wild animal or an imagination that isn't held back by rules.
Vocabulary lists containing wild
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Who doesn’t want to move to a beautiful, wild area and have all the conveniences of the city? But it really strains the wildland-urban interface.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
While Nile crocodile eggs naturally incubate in underground nests in the wild, zoos typically hatch them in carefully controlled incubators, closely monitoring the temperature and humidity.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
The illegal collection and trafficking of parrot eggs posed "a serious threat to wild bird populations and animal welfare", it added.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
“The Disappearers” is an unexpected arrival from Mr. James, whose previous two novels were the first two entries in his “Dark Star Trilogy,” a wonderfully wild and mythic fantasy saga set in precolonial Africa.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Even better, behind the beach were marshes filled with long, tasty grass, and set farther back were bushes and bushes of delicious wild berries.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Wingstop offers 13 different dipping sauces, and Buffalo Wild Wings boasts 23 different flavorings.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Murdoch even owned the Dodgers for a stretch to corner the market on what was then a Wild West shoot-out among TV programmers to launch cable channels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Singer-songwriter John Ross of the band Wild Pink operates at a high level artistically while remaining somewhat obscure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
"Katseye: Wild Hearts," which chronicles the pop girl group by the same name, came in fifth place, earning $3.6 million for Trafalgar Releasing on its opening weekend.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Frank Wild, his second-in-command, had been with him on his two previous journeys south and had spent a total of six years in Antarctica, logging more than 5,000 miles of sledging.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
America had its latchkey generation and, along with that, a growing sense that the world is a dangerous place, especially its wilder parts.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Antosca promises that in the back half of the series, the show will get even wilder and more destabilizing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
"Mission Wild is about accepting that challenge and setting out to achieve a wilder Gloucestershire, with benefits for people, communities and nature," McLaughlin added.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
Some of the wilder estimates of $200 for Brent suggest to Brooks an assumption that price elasticity is zero – in other words, demand is not impacted at all.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026
The animals grew louder and wilder until they were silenced by the robot’s booming voice.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
Maurice Brown, director of the Ulster Bands showcase, said his involvement this week was "beyond my wildest dreams".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Wall Street endured a painful selloff on Wednesday, as new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh presided over one of the wildest Fed decision days for markets in recent memory.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
“The results of AB 66 and this first phase go beyond my wildest imaginations,” said Boerner, who hopes this proof of concept lays the groundwork for a future statewide alert system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
But rejecting 99.9% of applications isn’t even the wildest thing about the company’s hiring process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
For them, life was only as good as their next adventure, and they chased after the wildest ones like whalers hunting giants across the mighty seas.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Or is there space still wilded enough for fleeting magic in suburban sprawl?
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
"Hollywood is on time out. I'm just going to put that right to the camera. Hollywood is wilding right now."
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2024
Like a pack of wilding drunks, they’re destroying habitats, contaminating water with their wallowing and feces, eroding topsoil and generally making a mess of things.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2023
There is an experiential vocabulary at work here, whether the age appropriateness of certain church hats, wilding out in the car to Crime Mob or talking smack on call-in radio shows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2022
NP: Do you ever think about just wilding out on Twitter to compete with Elon directly?
From The Verge ● Jan. 25, 2022
I guess dorm parties got old, so they’re wilding out on the subway instead—and were joining them, dammit.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
