How to Use feral in a Sentence

feral

adjective
  • They led a feral existence.
  • Grace prowls the fields like a feral cat.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Scrim was squeezed into a trap that had been set for feral cats.
    — Rick Rojas, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2025
  • Stray or feral cats who spend their lives outdoors are plagued by threats.
    — Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY, 8 June 2023
  • How about spay, neuter and release, like folks do with feral cats?
    — Daniella Walsh, Oc Register, 21 July 2025
  • Many agencies will spay and neuter feral cats for free or for a very low cost.
    — Hints From Heloise, star-telegram, 8 June 2017
  • Is this a quiet, gray street, my street, or the set of a feral opera?
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2021
  • The feral cats had not only stuck around but brought a friend to stay with them.
    — Ian Morris, The New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2020
  • Like a falcon, an owl can snatch small birds midair and have been known to eat feral cats.
    — Elizabeth Fletcher, Philly.com, 9 Mar. 2018
  • And lots of them were feral cats that want nothing to do with people.
    — Chris Perkins, sun-sentinel.com, 15 Sep. 2021
  • Not a dog barking or a feral cat knocking the lid off the garbage.
    — Ellen Bass, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • This makes feral pigs a favorite quarry among hunters in that part of the world.
    — Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2023
  • Most of these cats, the researchers suggest, were feral—but not all of them.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Mar. 2020
  • These include barn and feral cats, indoor cats, and big cats in zoos and in the wild.
    — CBS News, 1 Jan. 2025
  • That glitzy, feral charisma bomb is still a part of who Kesha is.
    — Amy Rose Spiegel, SELF, 20 June 2023
  • San Jose leaders have nixed a plan to kill feral pigs with bows and arrows.
    — Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2020
  • The increase in seeds also means more rats, stoats and feral cats -- all of which pose risks to the bird.
    — Leah Asmelash and Brian Ries, CNN, 19 July 2019
  • This is maybe my favorite record of theirs—so emotional and feral at the same time.
    — GQ, 14 Dec. 2017
  • No one knows for sure how many feral cats there are in New York City.
    — Seyward Darby, Longreads, 5 July 2023
  • Some are feral but most seem to have been house cats — including purebreds.
    — Jane Arraf, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
  • And the girl from the ice, a feral-seeming child who screams and flees at the very sight of Val.
    — Tom Nolan, WSJ, 11 Mar. 2022
  • Then at the center of the room, put a cardboard box with 40 feral cats.
    — Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2022
  • The lyrics are simple and childlike, but his voice is high, feral, and startling.
    — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2020
  • Hits were the javelina (a not very attractive feral pig), bighorn sheep and the gray fox.
    — Joe Drape, New York Times, 12 June 2018
  • The county does not pick up stray or feral cats but will accept them for a $96 fee each.
    — Angela Forburger, azcentral, 5 July 2018
  • Now) Don’t wait until the full moon for the beardo in your life to tame their feral whiskers.
    — Meirav Devash, Allure, 6 Oct. 2017
  • The quick clip shows an angry and feral Xenomorph with dark sharp teeth and lips dripping with drool.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2024
  • When the tools get cheap enough, imagination goes feral.
    — Bob Bonniol, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Go slightly feral, à la Die My Love.
    — Clio Chang, Curbed, 13 Nov. 2025
  • While the feral pigs hog the spotlight, the area is also home to native rock iguanas.
    — Jack Tamisiea, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'feral.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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