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wild

UK/ˈwaɪ̯ld/ US/ˈwaɪ̯ld/ common slang
adjective (11) adverb (2) noun (2)

adjective

1.

marked by extreme lack of restraint or control

  • “wild ideas”
  • “wild talk”
  • “wild originality”
  • “wild parties”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

in a natural state; not tamed or domesticated or cultivated

  • “wild geese”
  • “edible wild plants”
Synonyms
Antonyms
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3.

in a state of extreme emotion

  • “wild with anger”
  • “wild with grief”
Similar
4.

deviating widely from an intended course

  • “a wild bullet”
  • “he threw a wild pitch”
Similar
5.

(of colors or sounds) intensely vivid or loud

  • “a violent clash of colors”
  • “her dress was a violent red”
  • “a violent noise”
  • “wild colors”
  • “wild shouts”
Synonyms
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6.

not subjected to control or restraint

  • “a piano played with a wild exuberance” Louis Bromfield
Similar
7.

talking or behaving irrationally

  • “a raving lunatic”
Synonyms
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8.

produced without being planted or without human labor

  • “wild strawberries”
Synonyms
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9.

located in a dismal or remote area; desolate

  • “a desert island”
  • “a godforsaken wilderness crossroads”
  • “a wild stretch of land”
  • “waste places”
Synonyms
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10.

without civilizing influences

  • “barbarian invaders”
  • “barbaric practices”
  • “a savage people”
  • “fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient” Margaret Meade
  • “wild tribes”
Synonyms
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11.

(of the elements) as if showing violent anger

  • “angry clouds on the horizon”
  • “furious winds”
  • “the raging sea”
Synonyms
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adverb

1.

in an uncontrolled and rampant manner

  • “weeds grew rampantly around here”
Synonyms
2.

in a wild or undomesticated manner

  • “growing wild”
  • “roaming wild”

noun

1.

a wild primitive state untouched by civilization

  • “he lived in the wild”
  • “they collected mushrooms in the wild”
Synonyms
2.

Origin

From Middle English weilde, wield, wielde, wijlde, wild, wilde, wyld, wylde, wyled, wyyld, from Old English wilde, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“hair; wool”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian wil (“wild”), Saterland Frisian wíeld, wüüld (“wild”), West Frisian wyld (“wild”), Bavarian wüd (“wild”), Central Franconian weld (“wild”), Cimbrian bill (“crazy, mad; wild; stupid”), Dutch, German, and Low German wild (“wild”), Luxembourgish wëll (“wild; savage”), Vilamovian wyłd (“wild”), Yiddish ווילד (vild, “wild; savage”), Danish and Swedish vild (“wild”), Faroese villur (“wild”), Icelandic villtur (“wild; lost; barbaric, savage; uncultivated; untamed”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk vill (“wild”), vill (“lost”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃 (wilþeis, “wild”); also Cornish gwlan (“wool”), Irish and Scottish Gaelic olann (“wool”), Manx ollan (“wool”), Welsh gwlân (“wool”), Latin vellus (“fleece, wool”), villus (“hair, shaggy hair”), Ancient Greek λάχνη (lákhnē, “woolly hair; thin hair; soft nap or pile on cloth; quills hedgehog; leafage”), Lithuanian valai (“hair of the horse tail”), Belarusian во́лас (vólas, ...

Phrases

  • African wild ass
  • African wild donkey
  • American wild plum
  • Asian wild horse
  • buck wild
  • call of the wild
  • common wild oat
  • deuces wild
  • go wild
  • in the wild

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.