wandering

American

[won-der-ing] / ˈwɒn dər ɪŋ /

adjective

moving from place to place without a fixed plan; roaming; rambling.

Crowds of wandering tourists crossed the square.
having no permanent residence; nomadic.

They were historically a wandering people, moving seasonally through the area.
meandering; winding.

They followed a wandering path down the mountain.

noun

an aimless roving about; leisurely traveling from place to place.

For our honeymoon we had a period of delightful wandering through Italy.
Usually wanderings.
1. aimless travels; meanderings.
  
  Her wanderings took her all over the world.
2. disordered thoughts or utterances; incoherencies.
  
  mental wanderings;
  the wanderings of delirium.
seemingly aimless or random movement from one place to another by a person with a mental or cognitive disability or impairment.

Wandering by Alzheimer’s patients is a problem in nursing homes.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

wanderings

plural

Etymology

Origin of wandering

First recorded before 1000; Middle English (noun, adjective), Old English wandrigende (adjective); see wander ( def. ), -ing ² ( def. ), -ing ¹ ( def. )

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:

wandering wanderings

Many of the AI generated images have been centred on the Irish counties of Limerick and Wexford, where shaky videos purportedly showed the character wandering through the streets, causing alarm and confusion among residents.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Almost three decades ago, Joe Timko and Randy Neece were wandering through Disneyland, saw Goofy trailing around the gardens and made the connection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

The wandering sheriff is confident enough not to be strident, wise enough to maintain order as best he can, and savvy enough to read other people, which keeps him alert.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

"This is the strongest case of a wandering black hole that we know," Veilleux said.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

I hustled Karl out of the room, and away down the corridor, chewing him out soundly for wandering into Lizzie’s room like that, uninvited.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

Born and raised in Israel, he began his wanderings in young adulthood, ultimately landing in America.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

Lucas, 61, a musician from Bristol, travels to the Lake District in Cumbria for one week every month and regularly posts pictures of his wanderings.

From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026

Inside this edition, Cranach's map presents the stations of the wilderness wanderings and the division of the Promised Land into twelve tribal regions.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2025

After that, his unclaimed body began its wanderings: as a greeter for an Oklahoma funeral home, as a sideshow attraction for touring carnivals, and even in a titillating 1933 pre-Code film, “Narcotic.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025

Nothing gave them as much excitement as the wanderings of her mind.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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