Definition of wildernessnext
as in wild
that part of the physical world that is removed from human habitation released the wolf back into the wilderness

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wilderness After three seasons, the Yellowjackets team returned home to New Jersey after 19 months in the wilderness. — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026 Only a few decades later, environmentalists recast wilderness as something that needed saving. — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 Exec produced by Sylvester Stallone and filmed in British Columbia, the show challenges ordinary people to survive alone in an unforgiving wilderness with no training, no supplies, and no contact with the outside world. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 11 Oct. 2026 David Ayer’s thriller stars Brad Pitt as a Special Forces officer navigating the wilderness with his combat dog. — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for wilderness
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wilderness
Noun
  • The result is a movie of dazzling conundrums and vertiginous paradoxes, leading Fielder ever deeper into emotional and intellectual wilds.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Remember, this is an old-school program operating in a wild-west, NIL, transfer-portal landscape.
    — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 9 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The flooding was caused by heavy rain in the desert where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet, with more rain in the forecast through at least Saturday.
    — MEAD GRUVER, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Scientists had to drive out into the New Mexico desert to retrieve the film.
    — Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 24 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • On foreign policy, Lula has worked to boost the political influence of countries in the Global South as a founding member of the BRICS group, a grouping of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, China, Russia, India and South Africa.
    — Catherine Osborn, NPR, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who has spent more than four hundred million dollars on Republican campaigns this election cycle, slowed Ukraine’s access to his Starshield satellite network, leaving that country more vulnerable to Russian attacks.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Here, any distinction between spa and safari collapses, and the outdoors and wellness weave together.
    — Adrienne Matei, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Smaller fractions of the money would be directed to the state’s Outdoor Equity Grant Program to help people access the outdoors and to the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office to help create new jobs in the industry.
    — Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 3 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Wilderness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wilderness. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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