badlands

American

[bad-landz] / ˈbædˌlændz /

plural noun

a barren area in which soft rock strata are eroded into varied, fantastic forms.

badlands British

/ ˈbædˌlændz /

plural noun

any deeply eroded barren area

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of badlands

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; bad ¹ + land + -s ³; translation of French mauvaises terres, alluding to the difficulty in traversing such country

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.

It’s also Robby’s final day of work before embarking on a three-month motorcycle road trip set to take him from Pittsburgh to the Canadian badlands.

From Salon • Jan. 8, 2026

"The badlands in Wyoming where the finds were made is a unique 'mummy zone' that has more surprises in store from fossils collected over years of visits by teams of university undergrads."

From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2025

So arresting were the badlands surrounding the 2.5-mile Twenty Mule Team Canyon drive that it took us 20 minutes to complete.

From New York Times • Feb. 27, 2023

“We were driving through the badlands, and it was going on and on,” Dara recalled, “and then you get dumped into this tiny town. We were just amazed.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 5, 2023

Accustomed to farming the Thanagost badlands, they weren’t the sort to sit idle, but helped out however they could.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023