wasteland
Americannoun
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land that is uncultivated or barren.
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an area that is devastated, as by flood, storm, or war.
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something, as a period of history, phase of existence, or locality, that is spiritually or intellectually barren.
noun
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a barren or desolate area of land, not or no longer used for cultivation or building
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a region, period in history, etc, that is considered spiritually, intellectually, or aesthetically barren or desolate
American television is a cultural wasteland
Etymology
Origin of wasteland
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 was a wasteland of corporate buzzwords, 4 a.m. wake-up routines and stories about overcoming workplace adversity with a little something called grit.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026
McCarthy, addressing ProPublica on Substack, wrote: “You point to various online guides that offer what could be considered dangerous dosing instructions. We agree, the internet is a terrifying wasteland of misinformation and disinformation.”
From Salon • Dec. 15, 2025
"I don't even go camping. I can't even imagine walking across the wasteland."
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025
They’ve been doing covert “crawls” with the goal of locating and destroying Vecna before he turns the town, then the world, into an oozy wasteland.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2025
But his face was a wasteland, as if his best years had been spent working in a coal mine.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
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.
