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• wilder
  wilder

  verb (used with object)

  to cause to lose one's way.
• Wilder
  Wilder

  noun

  Billy Samuel Wilder, 1906–2002, U.S. film director, producer, and writer; born in Austria.

wilder

¹ American  

[wil-der] / ˈwɪl dər /

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to lose one's way.

2. to bewilder.

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verb (used without object)

1. to lose one's way.

2. to be bewildered.

wilder ² American  

[wahyl-der] / ˈwaɪl dər /

adjective

1. comparative of wild.

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Wilder ³ American  

[wahyl-der] / ˈwaɪl dər /

noun

1. Billy Samuel Wilder, 1906–2002, U.S. film director, producer, and writer; born in Austria.

2. Laura Ingalls 1867–1957, U.S. writer of children's books.

3. Thornton (Niven) 1897–1975, U.S. novelist and playwright.

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Wilder ¹ British  

/ ˈwaɪldə /

noun

1. Billy, real name Samuel Wilder. 1906–2002, US film director and screenwriter, born in Austria. His films include Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like it Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and Buddy Buddy (1981)

2. Thornton. 1897–1975 US novelist and dramatist. His works include the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) and the play The Skin of Our Teeth (1942)

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wilder ² British  

/ ˈwɪldə /

verb

1. to lead or be led astray

2. to bewilder or become bewildered

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Other Word Forms

• wilderment
  noun

Etymology

Origin of wilder

First recorded in 1605–15; perhaps extracted from wilderness; intransitive use probably by association with wander

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wilder Wilder

Haigh says online comments about her hair colour encouraged her to make it "even wilder"

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

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

According to Elizabeth Margulis’s fascinating “Transported,” these dreams are wilder, more autobiographical and more communal than ordinary moments of mind-wandering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 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

Fly out of the task and out of the tournament and—oh my, it gets wilder still, around Cedric, fireworks explode declaiming—“Ron loves Hermione”—and the crowd love that—oh, ladies and gentlemen, the look on Cedric’s face.

From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling

Rusty Goffe began his film career in the Gene Wilder movie, before later appearing in the original Star Wars, the Harry Potter films and Doctor Who.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

When she was alive, Wilder herself admitted that her novels were extensively embellished, mainly by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

The black cowboy hat Laura sports is straight from a photograph of Wilder as a girl.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

One time he was playing at a private club in New York where on the neighbouring court Hollywood actors Gene Wilder and Sidney Poitier were filming a movie.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Captain Wilder called to the rocket, “Abandon ship!”

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury