wild
/ˈwaɪ̯ld/ adjective, adverb, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms wilder wildest wilds wilding wilded wilde wyld
- adjective Especially, being of the wild type: being of an unbroken ancestral line of undomesticated animals, as opposed to being feral, being an undomesticated animal whose ancestors were domesticated. “Przewalski's horses are the only remaining wild horses, although there are many feral horses throughout the world.”
- adjective Being in the wild, by any pathway (whether by being of the wild type, by being feral since birth, or by being feral after escape from domesticated life).
- adjective From or relating to wild creatures. “wild honey”
- adjective Unrestrained or uninhibited. “I was filled with wild rage when I discovered the infidelity, and punched a hole in the wall.”
- adjective Raucous, unruly, or licentious. “The fraternity was infamous for its wild parties, which frequently resulted in police involvement.”
- adjective (electrical engineering) Of unregulated and varying frequency. “The aircraft's navigational equipment should not be powered from the wild AC bus except in an emergency, as its computers can be damaged by variations in electrical frequency.”
- adjective Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic. “Her mother was wild with fear when she didn't return home after the party.”
- adjective Furious; very angry.
- adverb Inaccurately; not on target. “The javelin flew wild and struck a spectator, to the horror of all observing.”
- adverb (of an audio recording) Intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately. “Let's record it wild.”
- noun (singular, with "the") The undomesticated state of a wild animal. “After mending the lion's leg, we returned him to the wild.”
- noun (chiefly in the plural) A wilderness.
- noun Something that is able to stand in for others, such as a particular playing card in a game.
- verb (intransitive, slang) To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.
- verb (intransitive, slang) (In the form wilding or wildin') To act in a strange or unexpected way.
- proper noun A surname from Middle English originally referring to a wild person, or for someone living in uncultivated land.
Synonyms
feral indomite tameless indigenous fierce rabid raging ferocious furious rampant grim incessive infuriate savage volatile ferine uplandish untame untamed natural state state of nature wilderness violent baseless groundless idle unfounded unwarranted raving mad hazardous
Antonyms
Etymology
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”).
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, “single hair”), Czech and Slovak vlas (“single hair”), Macedonian влас (vlas, “fluff; thread (of hair)”), Polish włos (“single hair”), Russian and Ukrainian во́лос (vólos, “single hair”), Serbo-Croatian вла̑с, vlȃs (“single hair”), Slovene las (“hair on top of head; nap, pile”), Armenian գեղմ (geġm, “fleece, wool”), Central Kurdish پرچ (pirç, “fax, headhair”), Northern Kurdish hirî (“wool”), Persian گرس (gors, “curl, ringlet; braid”), Hittite 𒋠𒀸 (SÍG-aš, “wool”), Tocharian A urṇ (“the circles of white hair between the brows of the Buddha or other deity”), Tocharian B *ūrṇ (“the circles of white hair between the brows of the Buddha or other deity”), Sanskrit वल्श (valśa, “branch, shoot, twig”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Living in a state of nature; inhabiting natural haunts, as the forest or open field; not familiar with, or not easily approached by, man; not tamed or domesticated; as, a wild boar; a wild ox; a wild cat. Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way. Shak.
- adjective Growing or produced without culture; growing or prepared without the aid and care of man; native; not cultivated; brought forth by unassisted nature or by animals not domesticated; as, wild parsnip, wild camomile, wild strawberry, wild honey.
- noun An uninhabited and uncultivated tract or region; a forest or desert; a wilderness; a waste; as, the wilds of America; the wilds of Africa.
- adverb Wildly; as, to talk wild. Shak.
Etymology [OE. wilde, AS. wilde; akin to OFries. wilde, D. wild, OS. & OHG. wildi, G. wild, Sw. & Dan. vild, Icel. villr wild, bewildered, astray, Goth. wilpeis wild, and G. & OHG. wild game, deer; of uncertain origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wild”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details