wild
adjective
living in a state of nature; not tamed or domesticated.
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vild.
wild
American
[wahyld]
/ waɪld /
adjective
-
wilder,
comparative
-
wildest
superlative
-
living in a state of nature; not tamed or domesticated.
a wild animal;
wild geese.
- Antonyms:
- tame
-
growing or produced without cultivation or the care of humans, as plants, flowers, fruit, or honey.
wild cherries.
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uncultivated, uninhabited, or waste.
wild country.
-
uncivilized or barbarous.
wild tribes.
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of unrestrained violence, fury, intensity, etc.; violent; furious.
wild strife;
wild storms.
- Synonyms:
- turbulent, frenzied, stormy, tempestuous
-
characterized by or indicating violent feelings or excitement, as actions or a person's appearance.
wild cries;
a wild look.
- Synonyms:
- boisterous
-
frantic or distracted; crazy.
to drive someone wild.
- Synonyms:
- insane
-
violently or uncontrollably affected.
wild with rage;
wild with pain.
-
undisciplined, unruly, or lawless.
a gang of wild boys.
- Synonyms:
- wayward, unrestrained, riotous, self-willed
-
unrestrained, untrammeled, or unbridled.
wild enthusiasm.
- Synonyms:
- uncontrollable
-
disregardful of moral restraints as to pleasurable indulgence.
He repented his wild youth.
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unrestrained by reason or prudence.
wild schemes.
- Synonyms:
- rash, reckless, impracticable, extravagant
-
amazing or incredible.
Isn't that wild about Bill getting booted out of the club?
-
disorderly or disheveled.
wild hair.
- Synonyms:
- unkempt
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wide of the mark.
He scored on a wild throw.
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Informal. intensely eager or enthusiastic.
wild to get started;
wild about the new styles.
-
Cards. (of a card) having its value decided by the wishes of the players.
-
Metallurgy. (of molten metal) generating large amounts of gas during cooling, so as to cause violent bubbling.
adverb
noun
verb (used with object)
wilded,
wilding
idioms
-
run wild,
-
to grow unchecked.
The rambler roses are running wild.
-
to show lack of restraint or control.
Those children are allowed to run wild.
-
-
in the wild,
-
in a natural state or in the wilderness.
-
in the real world; in real life.
language learning in the classroom and in the wild.
-
-
blow wild, (of an oil or gas well) to spout in an uncontrolled way, as in a blowout.
wild
1
British
/ waɪld /
adjective
-
(of animals) living independently of man; not domesticated or tame
-
(of plants) growing in a natural state; not cultivated
-
uninhabited or uncultivated; desolate
a wild stretch of land
-
living in a savage or uncivilized way
wild tribes
-
lacking restraint
wild merriment
-
of great violence or intensity
a wild storm
-
disorderly or chaotic
wild thoughts
wild talk
-
dishevelled; untidy
wild hair
-
in a state of extreme emotional intensity
wild with anger
-
reckless
wild speculations
-
not calculated; random
a wild guess
-
unconventional; fantastic; crazy
wild friends
-
informal intensely enthusiastic or excited
-
(of a card, such as a joker or deuce in some games) able to be given any value the holder pleases
jacks are wild
-
-
rough; untamed; barbarous
-
(of theories, plans, etc) not fully thought out
-
adverb
-
in a wild manner
-
-
to grow without cultivation or care
-
to behave without restraint
-
noun
-
(often plural) a desolate, uncultivated, or uninhabited region
-
-
a free natural state of living
-
the wilderness
-
Wild
2
British
/ waɪld /
noun
wild
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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half-wildnessnoun
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overwildnessnoun
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semiwildnessnoun
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unwildnessnoun
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wildnessnoun
-
half-wildadjective
-
overwildadjective
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semiwildadjective
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unwildadjective
-
wildishadjective
-
half-wildlyadverb
-
overwildlyadverb
-
semiwildlyadverb
-
unwildlyadverb
-
wildlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of wild
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English wilde; cognate with Dutch, German wild, Old Norse villr, Swedish vild, Gothic wiltheis
Explanation
Something that's wild lives in nature and isn't tamed. Your pet poodle isn't wild, but the groundhog that lives under your garden shed is wild. An animal or plant in its native habitat is wild, like a wild dingo or a wild strawberry. An untamed bit of nature, like your overgrown back yard, or a stormy ocean, is also wild. If a person is wild, he might be unrestrained, crazy, or even enthusiastic — like someone who's wild about cabaret music. The term "to run wild" means to grow unrestrained, undisciplined, like a wild animal or an imagination that isn't held back by rules.
Vocabulary lists containing wild
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 just get a wild hair up my ass every seven years and I just do something drastic to my hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
He has won every election by a landslide, slayed the dragons, corraled the wild beasts and brought peace, tranquility and a great economy to his kingdom.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
By nearly every headline measure, investors have never looked more relaxed in a year not short of wild rides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Tech-heavy indexes like Japan's Nikkei 225 seem to be moving in tandem with the Kospi's wild swings, Societe Generale's Benzimra says.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Regan looked particularly wild, her blond hair, usually straight, waving out in unruly tangles and twists that made her wide frightened eyes stand out sharply in her pale face.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
"Katseye: Wild Hearts," which chronicles the pop girl group by the same name, came in fifth place, earning $3.6 million for Trafalgar Releasing on its opening weekend.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Wild Ken Hill, a nature restoration project in Norfolk which was hit by a fire in 2022, provides some hope that scorched areas can recover.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Wild Futures said the sanctuary began when it started rescuing woolly monkeys from the pet trade.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Cosmetics brand Glamlite teamed up with Pepsi for its first foray into body care, turning the cola’s flavors into a Wild Cherry body wash and a Vanilla Slushie scrub.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
He loves the American Wild West, its cowboys, the gunfights, the fistfights.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Haigh says online comments about her hair colour encouraged her to make it "even wilder"
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
America had its latchkey generation and, along with that, a growing sense that the world is a dangerous place, especially its wilder parts.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
According to Elizabeth Margulis’s fascinating “Transported,” these dreams are wilder, more autobiographical and more communal than ordinary moments of mind-wandering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Some of the wilder estimates of $200 for Brent suggest to Brooks an assumption that price elasticity is zero – in other words, demand is not impacted at all.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026
The forest was much wilder than anything he had ever seen.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Maurice Brown, director of the Ulster Bands showcase, said his involvement this week was "beyond my wildest dreams".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The revenue for this summer’s World Cup went beyond FIFA’s wildest dreams, generating $15 billion in revenue, up from an earlier projection of $11 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Wall Street endured a painful selloff on Wednesday, as new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh presided over one of the wildest Fed decision days for markets in recent memory.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
It seems like the wildest character I’ve played in a while, and it’s me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Captain Prince thought it was the wildest idea he’d ever heard.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Or is there space still wilded enough for fleeting magic in suburban sprawl?
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
"Hollywood is on time out. I'm just going to put that right to the camera. Hollywood is wilding right now."
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2024
Like a pack of wilding drunks, they’re destroying habitats, contaminating water with their wallowing and feces, eroding topsoil and generally making a mess of things.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2023
There is an experiential vocabulary at work here, whether the age appropriateness of certain church hats, wilding out in the car to Crime Mob or talking smack on call-in radio shows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2022
One of my favorite style of tweets is when people are like, “the brands are at it again,” and it usually just means brands are wilding on Twitter.
From The Verge ● Aug. 23, 2022
They were still wilding and messing with people and putting out squad tracts.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
