wilderness
noun
wil·der·ness
ˈwil-dər-nəs 
1
a(1)
: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings
(2)
: an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community
b
: an empty or pathless area or region
in remote wildernesses of space groups of nebulae are found—
G. W. Gray †1960
G. W. Gray †1960
c
: a part of a garden devoted to wild growth
2
obsolete
: wild or uncultivated state
3
a
: a confusing multitude or mass : an indefinitely great number or quantity
I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys—William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
b
: a bewildering situation
those moral wildernesses of civilized life—Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Examples of wilderness in a Sentence
She enjoys hikes through the wilderness.
released the wolf back into the wilderness
Recent Examples on the Web
In their walk through the wilderness, Democrats will need to consider how to build a broader coalition that can defeat the cynical populism of Trump and his successors.
—Jamil Zaki, TIME, 23 Nov. 2024
Collectively our testers have more than 11 decades of experience in the wilderness.
—Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 22 Nov. 2024
Seasonal fruits anywhere and the walnuts at Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing.
Pick a room view: beach, city or wilderness?
Hyde Park or Central Park.
—Jennifer Kester, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
Democrats will certainly have plenty of time in the wilderness over the next two years to think about how to avoid putting themselves in this position again.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wilderness 
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Jamil Zaki, TIME, 23 Nov. 2024
Collectively our testers have more than 11 decades of experience in the wilderness.
—Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 22 Nov. 2024
Seasonal fruits anywhere and the walnuts at Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing.
Pick a room view: beach, city or wilderness?
Hyde Park or Central Park.
—Jennifer Kester, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
Democrats will certainly have plenty of time in the wilderness over the next two years to think about how to avoid putting themselves in this position again.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wilderness
Dictionary Entries Near wilderness
Cite this Entry
“Wilderness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wilderness. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
wilderness
noun
wil·der·ness
ˈwil-dər-nəs
: an area in which few people live that is not used for farming and is more or less in its natural state
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