wild
Untamed; not domesticated.
Adjective
- Untamed; not domesticated.
- Near-synonym: indigenous
- Przewalski's horses are the only remaining wild horses, although there are many feral horses throughout the world.
- In this region, the wild boars can be dangerous, but (perhaps counterintuitively) the feral hogs can be even worse.
Synonyms: feral indomite tameless indigenous
Antonyms: tame
Coordinate Terms: feral
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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.
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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).
Synonyms: feral indomite tameless
Antonyms: tame
- From or relating to wild creatures.
- wild honey
- Unrestrained or uninhibited.
- I was filled with wild rage when I discovered the infidelity, and punched a hole in the wall.
- Forgive these wild and wandering cries, Confusions of a wasted youth; Forgive them where they fail in truth, And in thy wisdom make me wise. - 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Prologue”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward...
- Raucous, unruly, or licentious.
- The fraternity was infamous for its wild parties, which frequently resulted in police involvement.
- Those most rural routes will not get overhead wires. As Reeve told the seminar: "Even in my wildest dreams, I can't see a business case for electrifying the Far North Line." - 2022 August 10, Philip Haigh, “Scotland...
- 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.
- Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic.
- Her mother was wild with fear when she didn't return home after the party.
- City, in contrast, were lethargic in every area of the pitch and their main contribution in the first half-hour was to keep referee Phil Dowd busy, with Micah Richards among four of their players booked early on, in his...
- Furious; very angry.
Synonyms: fierce rabid raging ferocious furious grim incessive infuriate savage volatile wild
- Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.
- After a week on the trail without a mirror, my hair was wild and dirty.
- Enthusiastic.
- I'm not wild about the idea of a two day car trip with my nephews, but it's my only option.
- Very inaccurate; far off the mark.
- The novice archer fired a wild shot and hit her opponent's target.
- Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered.
- a wild roadstead
- Hard to steer.
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...
Forms
Synonyms
feral ferine indomite savage tameless uplandish untame untamed wild
Antonyms
Hyponyms
Related
Derived
African wild ass African wild donkey American wild plum Asian wild horse buck wild common wild oat deuces wild go wild half-wild hog-wild in the wild Mongolian wild horse run wild semi-wild Somali wild ass sow wild oats sow one's wild oats take a walk on the wild side walk on the wild side wild allspice wild almond wild and woolly wild and wooly wild aneth
Adverb
- Inaccurately; not on target.
- The javelin flew wild and struck a spectator, to the horror of all observing.
- Intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately.
- Let's record it wild.
Forms
Noun singular, with definite article
- The undomesticated state of a wild animal.
- After mending the lion's leg, we returned him to the wild.
- A wilderness.
- 1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland Thus every good his native wilds impart Imprints the patriot passion on his heart; And e’en those ills that round his mansion rise Enhance the bliss his scanty...
- Something that is able to stand in for others, such as a particular playing card in a game.
Forms
Derived
Noun alt of, alternative
- Alternative form of weald.
Forms
Verb
- To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.
- ...Chief of Detectives Robert Colangelo, who said the attacks appeared unrelated to money, race, drugs, or alcohol, said that some of the 20 youths brought in for questioning has told investigators that the crime spree...
- Now is they wildin with us / And getting rowdy with us. - 1999, Busta Rhymes (Trevor Taheim Smith, Jr.), Iz They Wildin Wit Us? (song)
- To act in a strange or unexpected way.
- They had a big influence on me. They had a big influence on Brooklyn period. I like the nonsense. [laughs] They were wildin'. Everyone in Brooklyn was liking that shit. They're wildin'. Their story in the stu, it gets...
- Kinsey posted a clip of the incident alongside a caption that reads: "Damn the ER in Tulsa be wildin'." - 2021 October 14, Jack Beresford, “Hospital Security Guard 'Heartbroken' After Being Fired Over Viral Video...
- The Ringer's Culture/NBA writer Wosney Lambre said it best: "I think it's a bad look for the players to be wilding on the fans like this. Fair or not, the players are held to a higher standard of decorum than the loser...