wasteland

[weyst-land]

noun

1. land that is uncultivated or barren.

2. an area that is devastated, as by flood, storm, or war.

3. something, as a period of history, phase of existence, or locality, that is spiritually or intellectually barren.

wasteland

/ ˈweɪstˌlænd /

noun

1. a barren or desolate area of land, not or no longer used for cultivation or building

2. a region, period in history, etc, that is considered spiritually, intellectually, or aesthetically barren or desolate

   American television is a cultural wasteland

Word History and Origins

Origin of wasteland¹

First recorded in 1630–40; waste + -land

Example Sentences

When you scan their rural town, a wasteland of Dollar General stores and fast food chains, most of their neighbors seem to have already faded away.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Just five years ago, midtown Manhattan was a wasteland as the pandemic dominated life in a city that had seen some of the darkest times of Covid-19 only months earlier.

Read more on Barron's

“Come wintertime, it starts to look like a post-apocalyptic wasteland—but in a cool way,” she said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But many of his ideological precursors hailed government threats and cheered for Big Brother to assert janitorial duties in the “wasteland.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Another resident, from the northern town of Beit Lahia, told us his area was now a "wasteland", after Israel's army razed it to the ground.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• desert 
• swamp