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

In the summer of 2022, two boys hiking with their father and a 7-year-old cousin in the North Dakota badlands came across some large bones poking out of a rock.

From New York Times • Jun. 4, 2024

California’s state park system offers 3,000 miles of trail and terrain from beaches to badlands, Joshua trees and more.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2023

Away from the lakeshore the land rises gently and then abruptly to form the desiccated, phantasmal badlands of Anza- Borrego.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

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