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wild

adj, adv, noun and 1 more — 25 senses

wild

adj

/ˈwaɪ̯ld/ · [ˈwaɪ̯ld]

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”). 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, “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”).

18 senses
  1. 1Especially, being of the wild type: being of an unbroken…
  2. 2Being in the wild, by any pathway (whether by being of…
  3. 3From or relating to wild creatures.
  4. 4Unrestrained or uninhibited.
  5. 5Raucous, unruly, or licentious.
  6. 6Of unregulated and varying frequency.
  7. 7Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic.
  8. 8Furious; very angry.
  9. 9Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.
  10. 10Enthusiastic.
  11. 11Very inaccurate; far off the mark.
  12. 12Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered.
  13. 13Hard to steer.
  14. 14Not capable of being represented as a finite closed…
  15. 15Amazing, awesome, unbelievable.
  16. 16Very unexpected; wildly surprising; crazy, diabolical.
  17. 17Able to stand in for others, e.g. a card in games, or a…
  18. 18Of an audio recording: intended to be synchronized with…

› Untamed; not domesticated.

1

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.

  • Near-synonym: indigenous
  • Przewalski's horses are the only remaining wild horses, although there are many feral horses throughout the world.
4 more examples
  • In this region, the wild boars can be dangerous, but (perhaps counterintuitively) the feral hogs can be even worse.
  • noli me tangere for Ceſars I ame and wylde for to hold though I ſeme tamec. 1527–1542, Thomas Wyatt, “Who so list to hounte”, in Egerton MS 2711, page 7v:
  • Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
  • Thee Shepherd, thee the Woods, and deſert caves, / With wilde Thyme and the gadding Vine o'regrown,1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 58:
2

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).

3

From or relating to wild creatures.

  • wild honey
4

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 Moxon, […], →OCLC:
5

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 switched on to electrification”, in RAIL, number 963, page 35:
6

Business, Electrical, Electrical engineering, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Energy, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics 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.
7

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 case for a wild lunge on Young.2011 August 7, Chris Bevan, “Man City 2-3 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
8

Furious; very angry.

9

Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.

  • After a week on the trail without a mirror, my hair was wild and dirty.
10

Enthusiastic.

  • I'm not wild about the idea of a two day car trip with my nephews, but it's my only option.
11

Very inaccurate; far off the mark.

  • The novice archer fired a wild shot and hit her opponent's target.
12

Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered.

  • a wild roadstead
13

Nautical, Transport Of a vessel Hard to steer.

14

Mathematics, Sciences Of a knot Not capable of being represented as a finite closed polygonal chain.

15

Slang Amazing, awesome, unbelievable.

  • Did you hear? Pat won the lottery! — Wow, that's wild!
16

Slang Very unexpected; wildly surprising; crazy, diabolical.

17

Able to stand in for others, e.g. a card in games, or a text character in computer pattern matching.

  • In this card game, aces are wild: they can take the place of any other card.
  • We define a pattern as a valid GP subtree that might contain wild characters [i.e. wildcards] in any of its nodes.2009, Leonardo Vanneschi, Steven Gustafson, Alberto Moraglio, Genetic Programming: 12th European Conference:
18

Of an audio recording: intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately.

  • a wild track; wild sound
Synonyms
feral, ferine, indomite, savage, tameless, uplandish, untame, untamed, wild
Antonyms
broken, docile, domesticated, tame
Derived terms
185 termsAfrican 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, wild-animal, wild animal, wild as a Tuckernuck steer, wild as a wet hen, wild asparagus, wild-ass, wild ass, wild bachelor's button, wild bachelor's-button, wild balsam apple, wild basil, wild bean, wild bergamot, wild betel, wild blueberry, wild blue yonder, wild boar, wild buckwheat, wild bugloss, wild cabbage, wild candytuft, wild cane, wild card, wildcard, wild-card, wild carrot, wildcat, wildcat strike, wildcatter, Wild Cattle Creek, wild-cat, wild cat, wild-caught, wild celery, wild chamomile, wild cherry, wild chicory, wild child, wild cotton, wildcrafting, wild cucumber, wild cumin, wild custard apple, wild dill, wild dog, Wild Dog Valley, wild drake, wild duck, wildebeest, wild eggplant, wild elder, wilden, wild endive, wilder, wilderness, wildest, wild-eyed, wild feed, wildfire, wild flax, wildflower, wild flower, wildfowl, wild foxtail millet, wild garlic, wild geranium, wild ginger, wild goat, wild goose, wild-goose plum, wild guess, wild haggis, wild hair, wild horse, wild hyacinth, wild indigo, wilding, wild ipecacuanha, wild Irishman, wildish, wildland, wild leek, wild lettuce, wild licorice, wild life, wildlife, wild lily-of-the-valley, wild line, wild loquat, wildly, wild mammee, wild mango, wild mangosteen, wild man syndrome, wild man, wild-man, wild mare's milk, wild marjoram, wild mint, wild mustard, wildness, wild oat, wild oats, wild olive, wild onion, wild orange, wild out, wild ox, wild pansy, wild passionfruit, wild peach, wild pellitory, wild pieplant, wild pig, wild pigeon, wild pig syndrome, wild pink, wild pitch, wild plantain, wild plum, wild pointer, wild potato, wild potato vine, wild purslane, wild quinine, wild radish, wild rhubarb, wild rice, wild river, wild rosemary, wild rue, wild rye, wild senna, wild service tree, wild soursop, wild Spaniard, wild spinach, wild stonecrop, wild strawberry, wildstyle, wild succory, wild sweet potato, wild swimming, wild Syrian rue, wild take, wild teasel, wild thing, wild thyme, wild tobacco, wild track, wild turkey, wild turmeric, wild type, wild-type, wild vanilla, wild weasel, wild wee, Wild West, wild woman, wildwood, wild yam
Related terms
aggressive, animalistic, animallike, fierce
Hyponyms
semiwild

wild

adv
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”). 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, “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”).

1

Inaccurately; not on target.

  • The javelin flew wild and struck a spectator, to the horror of all observing.
2

Of an audio recording Intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately.

  • Let's record it wild.

wild

noun
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”). 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, “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”).

1

With definite article The undomesticated state of a wild animal.

  • After mending the lion's leg, we returned him to the wild.
2

In plural 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 funds supplies.
3

Something that is able to stand in for others, such as a particular playing card in a game.

Derived terms
call of the wild, in the wild

wild

verb
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”). 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, “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”).

1

Slang 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 was the product of a pastime called "wilding". "It's not a term that we in the police had heard before," the chief said, noting that the police were unaware of any similar incident in the park recently. "They just said, 'We were going wilding.' In my mind at this point, it implies that they were going to raise hell."...1989 April 22, David E. Pitt, “Jogger's Attackers Terrorized at Least 9 in 2 Hours”, in New York Times, page 1:
  • Now is they wildin with us / And getting rowdy with us.1999, Busta Rhymes (Trevor Taheim Smith, Jr.), Iz They Wildin Wit Us? (song)
2

Slang (In the form wilding or wildin') 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 deep.2021 April 6, Shirley Ju, “The New Voice of Brooklyn is Here To 'Drench 'Em'”, in Flaunt Magazine, archived from the original on 07 Sep 2022:
  • 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 Confrontation”, in Newsweek:
1 more example
  • 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 fans. It is what it is."2022 April 20, A. Sherrod Blakely, “The Neverending Disappointment of Kyrie Irving”, in Bleacher Report:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.