wander
Americanverb (used without object)
-
wanders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wandered,
past participle, past
-
wandering
present participle
-
to ramble without a definite purpose or objective; roam, rove, or stray.
to wander over the earth.
-
to go aimlessly, indirectly, or casually; meander.
The river wanders among the rocks.
- Synonyms:
- saunter
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to extend in an irregular course or direction.
Foothills wandered off to the south.
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to move, pass, or turn idly, as the hand or the eyes.
-
(of the mind, thoughts, desires, etc.) to take one direction or another without conscious intent or control.
His attention wandered as the speaker droned on.
-
to stray from a path, place, companions, etc..
During the storm the ship wandered from its course.
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to deviate in conduct, belief, etc.; err; go astray.
Let me not wander from Thy Commandments.
-
to think or speak confusedly or incoherently.
-
(of a person with a mental disorder or cognitive impairment) to move about or walk in a seemingly aimless or random manner.
verb (used with object)
-
wanders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wandered,
past participle, past
-
wandering
present participle
noun
-
wanders
plural
verb
-
(also tr) to move or travel about, in, or through (a place) without any definite purpose or destination
-
to proceed in an irregular course; meander
-
to go astray, as from a path or course
-
(of the mind, thoughts, etc) to lose concentration or direction
-
to think or speak incoherently or illogically
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wandersimple
-
wanderssimple
-
have wanderedperfect
-
has wanderedperfect
-
am wanderingprogressive
-
are wanderingprogressive
-
is wanderingprogressive
-
have been wanderingperfect progressive
-
has been wanderingperfect progressive
Past
-
wanderedsimple
-
had wanderedperfect
-
was wanderingprogressive
-
were wanderingprogressive
-
had been wanderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wander
First recorded before 900; Middle English wandren, Old English wandrian “to wend repeatedly” (cognate with German wandern ), from wendan; see wend
Explanation
The verb wander describes something that has lost track. If you're watching a boring movie, your mind might begin to wander. If you don't have a clear goal, you could wander too — meaning you drift aimlessly. When you wander mentally, your thoughts get lost. And when you wander physically, you don't have a destination, so it's also possible to lose your bearings and not know where you are — or how to get back. That's why wander is also used to describe someone who drifts from place to place or job to job without a sense of direction or purpose.
Vocabulary lists containing wander
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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:
I could wander into her garden, borrow her spices and imagine that this was simply what my life looked like on a Thursday afternoon.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
When his roommates left their dorm each morning, Ma would wander Beijing, sitting in parks and looking at stray cats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
But my eyes wander — I like to see who’s in the audience and what’s going on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
When the power cuts out after dark in Vientiane, families wander outside to avoid the stifling heat indoors, using cell phones to light their way.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
Henry stood patiently, gazing down at the floor; gradually his eyes began to wander, and after about five minutes he made an exasperated noise and looked up.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
A later Greek poet warned others “not to tread the road of Euripides,” but Ms. Hall occasionally wanders down the path.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
“It sets him on a journey as he wanders through his Rust Belt town,” Coury said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
Chip falls in with a troupe of street performers, evades the police, juggles along the Seine and eventually wanders into a smoky bar, where Penelope is strumming her guitar.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
At 100, Attenborough no longer wanders the world's jungles and deserts.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
“It’s said Lorca’s ghost still wanders around Spain looking for a place to rest.”
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
She noted that tourists and security footage showed the dog had not wandered beyond a roughly two-mile stretch of the Canyon Village area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
ITHACA, N.Y.—On a drizzly Thursday, Cornell University students wandered into consulting recruitment sessions, hustled up the slopes to midterms and listened to a Pulitzer-winning fiction writer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Hammond is ebullience and warmth personified but her co-presenter, the erstwhile Mighty Boosh comedian Fielding, still looks a bit lost, as if he has wandered in from the wrong set.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Twelve years later, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wandered directly into the bit.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
He took up his complimentary notepad and wandered down to the rostrum.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
England began their wandering winter with a sloppy loss to Pakistan in the one-day tri-series in Rawalpindi.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
The researchers also uncovered an intriguing connection between these wandering stars and dark matter.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
As the song played, people from neighboring studios, including hip-hop producers and other musicians, began wandering in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
And, with the museum’s dim lighting, dated technology and underutilized areas, it can feel at times as if one is wandering in a past-its-prime shopping mall or in the forgotten corner of an airport terminal.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
But as a rule, Clare never sent a wandering spirit to this particular realm unless he was absolutely, positively, most certainly certain.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
