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wander

American  
[won-der] / ˈwɒn dər /

verb (used without object)

wanders, present (3rd person singular) wandered, past participle, past wandering present participle
  1. to ramble without a definite purpose or objective; roam, rove, or stray.

    to wander over the earth.

    Synonyms:
    stroll, range
  2. to go aimlessly, indirectly, or casually; meander.

    The river wanders among the rocks.

    Synonyms:
    saunter
  3. to extend in an irregular course or direction.

    Foothills wandered off to the south.

  4. to move, pass, or turn idly, as the hand or the eyes.

  5. (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.

  6. to stray from a path, place, companions, etc..

    During the storm the ship wandered from its course.

    Synonyms:
    veer, swerve
  7. to deviate in conduct, belief, etc.; err; go astray.

    Let me not wander from Thy Commandments.

  8. to think or speak confusedly or incoherently.

    Synonyms:
    rave, ramble
  9. (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
  1. to travel about, on, or through.

    He wandered the streets.

noun

wanders plural
  1. Mechanics. the drift of a gyroscope or a similar device.

wander British  
/ ˈwɒndə /

verb

  1. (also tr) to move or travel about, in, or through (a place) without any definite purpose or destination

  2. to proceed in an irregular course; meander

  3. to go astray, as from a path or course

  4. (of the mind, thoughts, etc) to lose concentration or direction

  5. to think or speak incoherently or illogically

"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

noun

  1. the act or an instance of wandering

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing wander

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:

Most of Aviv’s characters wander through life uneasily, plagued by misdiagnosed, undiagnosable or undertreated maladies.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 8, 2026

They wander among the houses -- painted mostly in shades of white, yellow or brown -- and go biking or hiking in the surrounding hills of central Slovakia.

From Barron's Jul. 3, 2026

"Last night I slept fairly well on the sofa, so no need to wander further downstairs to the hallway," she says.

From BBC Jun. 25, 2026

He hid food and other dangerous items from her and stayed vigilant to ensure she wouldn’t wander off.

From MarketWatch Jun. 23, 2026

Occasionally, he’d wander over to the Lombardy–Reshevsky game and scan it for a few seconds.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

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

As she makes haste to finish her shopping, a young man wanders past clutching a small glass bottle of a green spread.

From BBC Apr. 23, 2026

Wearing a headlamp in the shape of a pistol and proudly displaying a spare gold leg that serves as a not-very-dexterous arm, Masli wanders the rows of the theater in search of someone to help.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 21, 2025

“That’s what my mom calls our house whenever someone wanders in with their lives on fire. It’s a joke we say when she boots me to the couch.”

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

But when the kick-off was delayed from 01:00 to 02:00, Merry said her husband wandered off for a nap.

From BBC Jul. 6, 2026

Bruce Young, 80, a descendant of homesteaders, sat on his porch overlooking Stoner Creek near the Territory 1889 site, and shook his head as a mule deer wandered past.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 5, 2026

At various points while watching “Louis C.K.: Ridiculous,” my mind wandered back to the many times such kamikaze socializing missions were thrust upon me when I was a kid.

From Salon Jul. 3, 2026

The more casual fairgoers wandered by the stage without stopping.

From Slate Jul. 1, 2026

“Can’t be worse than the last time,” Jack said to her as his grandfather wandered off toward the village’s inn.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

The biographical details may come from the author’s grandfather, but the character seems decidedly larger-than-life, a cross between Bruce Wayne, a Japanese ronin and an archetypal wandering Jew.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 26, 2026

The positioning remained impressively accurate, without the blind spots or wandering location dots that often plague consumer pet trackers.

From Slate Jun. 20, 2026

On Tuesday, I found myself wandering the halls of Congress.

From Salon May 29, 2026

It depicted a young boy wandering lost through the Backrooms' terrifying corridors.

From Barron's May 28, 2026

We were wandering around Mr. Potter Palmer’s dry-goods store just a day or so later, my fingers aching from working so many hours on Aunt Kitty’s red fortune-teller costume.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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