living in a state of nature; not tamed or domesticated.
a wild animal;
wild geese.
growing or produced without cultivation or the care of humans, as plants, flowers, fruit, or honey.
wild cherries.
uncultivated, uninhabited, or waste.
wild country.
uncivilized or barbarous.
wild tribes.
of unrestrained violence, fury, intensity, etc.; violent; furious.
wild strife;
wild storms.
characterized by or indicating violent feelings or excitement, as actions or a person's appearance.
wild cries;
a wild look.
frantic or distracted; crazy.
to drive someone wild.
violently or uncontrollably affected.
wild with rage;
wild with pain.
undisciplined, unruly, or lawless.
a gang of wild boys.
unrestrained, untrammeled, or unbridled.
wild enthusiasm.
disregardful of moral restraints as to pleasurable indulgence.
He repented his wild youth.
unrestrained by reason or prudence.
wild schemes.
amazing or incredible.
Isn't that wild about Bill getting booted out of the club?
disorderly or disheveled.
wild hair.
wide of the mark.
He scored on a wild throw.
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.
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.
(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
in a wild manner
to grow without cultivation or care
to behave without restraint
(often plural) a desolate, uncultivated, or uninhabited region
a free natural state of living
the wilderness
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English wilde; cognate with Dutch, German wild, Old Norse villr, Swedish vild, Gothic wiltheis
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A big wild card is the Federal Reserve.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
South Korea’s advance estimate of second-quarter growth, due Thursday, will likely show a softer but resilient print, with the economy recently seeing wild swings in its stock market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The team have been "headstarting" the birds, Perkins explained, by taking in eggs from wild nests and incubating and raising them in specially-constructed pens.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The meta-analysis, published in Ecology Letters, brought together three decades of research examining how wild animals alter their behavior around humans.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Papa looked at me and said, “I saw that goose, but I didn’t think it was one of ours. I thought it was a wild one. He was really traveling. What happened anyway?”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Honorable mention: Norway’s star striker Erling Haaland, who went viral for bringing home a taxidermy raccoon holding a whiskey bottle that he reportedly bought for $750 from Wild Bill’s Western Store in Dallas.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The group debuted on the “Smurfs 2” soundtrack with “Vacation” in July 2013 and, in early 2014, they were featured on Pitbull’s “Wild Wild Love.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
“The prediction markets are just the Wild, Wild West,” said Susan Sherman, who grew up in the Pacific Palisades.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
Sarah Dawson, chief operating officer for Space for the Wild, said the flights for the bears were expected to be expensive.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
“I felt jolly near blubbing for a bit,” Wild said later, “and could not speak for several minutes.”
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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
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
His wife hated the new bristles, but he let them grow fuller and wilder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
The latest series of The Traitors is coming to an end after weeks of wild accusations, wilder betrayals and Claudia Winkleman's devious looks-to-camera.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026
The smell—the same smell he had found at the lochan—grew richer and wilder and kinder with every step.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
“The results of AB 66 and this first phase go beyond my wildest imaginations,” said Boerner, who hopes this proof of concept lays the groundwork for a future statewide alert system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
But rejecting 99.9% of applications isn’t even the wildest thing about the company’s hiring process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
I was in awe of the fact that in 40 years of reporting on the White House I never once, in my wildest and most macabre hallucinations, dreamed up anything like that event.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
His music is the warmest and the wildest.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026
“You have excelled beyond my wildest expectations,” Goddard told him.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Or is there space still wilded enough for fleeting magic in suburban sprawl?
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
He’s also been wilding out on Truth Social, uncorking a series of posts that are unhinged, even for him.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2025
“It was such a magical moment, and so iconic what it represents for conservation and wilding in this country,” said Gibbs, who first spotted the baby bison on Sept. 9.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2022
For the Bene Gesserit, a religious order of women who influence history from the shadows, the color was a chorus of wilding female voices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2022
NP: Do you ever think about just wilding out on Twitter to compete with Elon directly?
From The Verge ● Jan. 25, 2022
I guess dorm parties got old, so they’re wilding out on the subway instead—and were joining them, dammit.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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.
