wandering

[won-der-ing]

adjective

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

   Crowds of wandering tourists crossed the square.

2. having no permanent residence; nomadic.

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

3. meandering; winding.

   They followed a wandering path down the mountain.

noun

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

   For our honeymoon we had a period of delightful wandering through Italy.

2. 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.

3. 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

• wanderingly adverb
• wanderingness noun
• unwandering adjective
• unwanderingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of wandering¹

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

Example Sentences

Instead of wandering around state fairs and talking to the locals, he would land in a field in his personal helicopter and take some kids up for a ride.

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But we could have done a better job of identifying and pursuing the wanderings that were most important to us.

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Wildlife guides report instances of wildebeest wandering into kitchens and lobbies at other Maasai Mara camps built on migration corridors.

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What if we get lost in the Eloko, wandering for eternity?

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North of Copenhagen is the city of Elsinore, home to the castle where Hamlet takes place, with its wandering ghosts, ill-advised eavesdropping behind the drapes, conversations with skulls, and deadly duels in iambic pentameter.

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Related Words

• meandering 
• nomadic 
• roving