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• wilderness
  wilderness

  noun

  a wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert, uninhabited or inhabited only by wild animals; a tract of wasteland.
• Wilderness
  Wilderness

  noun

  a wooded area in NE Virginia: several battles fought here in 1864 between armies of Grant and Lee.

wilderness

¹ American  

[wil-der-nis] / ˈwɪl dər nɪs /

noun

• wildernesses
  plural

1. a wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert, uninhabited or inhabited only by wild animals; a tract of wasteland.

2. a tract of land officially designated as such and protected by the U.S. government.

3. any desolate tract, as of open sea.

4. a part of a garden set apart for plants growing with unchecked luxuriance.

5. a bewildering mass or collection.

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Wilderness ² American  

[wil-der-nis] / ˈwɪl dər nɪs /

noun

1. a wooded area in NE Virginia: several battles fought here in 1864 between armies of Grant and Lee.

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wilderness ¹ British  

/ ˈwɪldənɪs /

noun

1. a wild, uninhabited, and uncultivated region

2. any desolate tract or area

3. a confused mass or collection

4. a person, group, etc, making a suggestion or plea that is ignored

5. no longer having influence, recognition, or publicity

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Wilderness ² British  

/ ˈwɪldənɪs /

noun

1. the barren regions to the south and east of Palestine, esp those in which the Israelites wandered before entering the Promised Land and in which Christ fasted for 40 days and nights

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Synonym Usage

See desert ¹.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• wildernesses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of wilderness

1150–1200; Middle English; Old English *wil ( d ) dēornes, equivalent to either wil ( d ) dēor wild beast ( see wild, deer) + -nes -ness, or wilddēoren wild, savage ( wilddēor + -en -en ² ) + ( -n ) es -ness; probably reinforced by Middle English wildernes, genitive of wildern wilderness (noun use of Old English wilddēoren ), in phrases like wildernes land land of wilderness

Explanation

If you don’t mow your lawn all summer, don’t be surprised if your neighbors complain that it resembles a wilderness, a wild area that is not tended by humans. The wilderness is of course filled with many animals, but did you know that the name of an animal is hidden in the word wilderness? The word actually is a combination of wild plus the Old English word dēor, along with the ending -ness, used in nouns that refer to a certain condition. While dēor eventually turned into our modern word deer, it didn’t refer to the antlered Bambi we imagine. It was simply the word for “animal.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wilderness Wilderness wildernesses

Troy has barely snapped a pic before he is forced to parachute into the Siberian wilderness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

The real test of this new love for the Scottish wilderness is whether it leaves enough wilderness for the next generation.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

The Camino isn’t wilderness, and it isn’t tourism in the usual sense.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

We went to Wall Street’s exclusive wilderness camp.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

And I bought a house at the end of a road that terminated on the very edge of a wilderness that stretched for literally thousands of miles.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen

Grant used the destruction of railroads and logistical networks, and superior manpower, to smother the Confederacy during his 1864 Wilderness Campaign.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Despite the acclaim his Birmingham restaurant The Wilderness commands, Claridge says the reality behind the kitchen doors is one of soaring costs, shrinking margins and constant uncertainty.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Trinity Alps Wilderness, about three hours north of Sacramento, offers hiking trails, waterfalls, alpine lakes and smaller crowds than at popular national parks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Jason Coughran, a 60-year-old with an athletic build, had set out on a trek last Monday into Desolation Wilderness from nearby Fallen Leaf Lake.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

“He was not at Chancellorsville. He was not at Gettysburg or the Wilderness or Richmond or Appomattox.”

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

America’s great national parks and wildernesses must be littered with dead relatives.

From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026

AppLovin has an ad platform that facilitates ads surrounding mobile apps, especially games, one of the last untamed wildernesses of digital advertising.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

Orchards, wildernesses and bowers abound in her fiction, where her heroines contemplate curated views or scamper across fields and over stiles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

For Ally Turner and her friend Glynis Mattheisen, it took a three day trek through one of Scotland's last great wildernesses to reach Britain's remotest pub.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2024

The foragers were there before us and they brought about dramatic changes even in the densest jungles and the most desolate wildernesses.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• back country
• desert
• forest
• jungle
• outback
• wasteland