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Meaning of wild in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions
  3. Adverb
    1. Definitions
  4. Noun
    1. Definitions
  5. Qualitative Adjective
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions
  1. Pronunciation

    /waɪld/

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  1. Classifying Adjective

    wild

    Definitions

    1. in a state of extreme emotion

    Examples

    • « wild with anger »
    • « wild with grief »

    Synonyms

    • passionate
  2. 2. deviating widely from an intended course

    Examples

    • « a wild bullet »
    • « a wild pitch »

    Synonyms

    • uncontrolled
  3. 3. (of colors or sounds) intensely vivid or loud

    Examples

    • « a violent clash of colors »
    • « her dress was a violent red »
    • « a violent noise »
    • « wild colors »
    • « wild shouts »

    Synonyms

    • intense
  4. 4. not subjected to control or restraint

    Examples

    • « a piano played with a wild exuberance- Louis Bromfield »

    Synonyms

    • uncontrolled
  5. 5. talking or behaving irrationally

    Examples

    • « a raving lunatic »

    Synonyms

    • insane
  6. 6. produced without being planted or without human labor

    Examples

    • « wild strawberries »

    Synonyms

    • unplanted
  7. 7. located in a dismal or remote area

    Examples

    • « desolate »
    • « a desert island »
    • « a godforsaken wilderness crossroads »
    • « a wild stretch of land »
    • « waste places »

    Synonyms

    • inhospitable
  8. 8. without civilizing influences

    Examples

    • « barbarian invaders »
    • « barbaric practices »
    • « a savage people »
    • « fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient-Margaret Meade »
    • « wild tribes »

    Synonyms

    • noncivilized
    • noncivilised
  9. 9. (of the elements) as if showing violent anger

    Examples

    • « angry clouds on the horizon »
    • « furious winds »
    • « the raging sea »

    Synonyms

    • stormy
  10. Adverb

    wild

    Definitions

    1. in an uncontrolled and rampant manner

    Examples

    • « weeds grew rampantly around here »
  11. 2. in a wild or undomesticated manner

    Examples

    • « growing wild »
    • « roaming wild »
  12. Noun

    wild

    Definitions

    1. a wild primitive state untouched by civilization

    Examples

    • « he lived in the wild »
  13. 2. a wild and uninhabited area
  14. Qualitative Adjective

    wild

    Etymology

    Old English wilde, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German wild

    Definitions

    1. marked by extreme lack of restraint or control

    Examples

    • « wild ideas »
    • « wild talk »
    • « wild originality »
    • « wild parties »

    Synonyms

    • chaotic
    • disorderly
    • delirious
    • excited
    • frantic
    • mad
    • unrestrained
    • frenzied
    • manic

    Antonyms

    • tame
  15. 2. in a natural state

    Examples

    • « not tamed or domesticated or cultivated »
    • « wild geese »
    • « edible wild plants »

    Synonyms

    • feral
    • ferine
    • savage
    • unbroken
    • undomesticated

    Antonyms

    • tame
    • tamed

Famous quotes

  • « The real 1960s began on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. It came to seem that Kennedy's murder opened some malign trap door in American culture, and the wild bats flapped out. »
    Lance Morrow
  • « Courage without conscience is a wild beast. »
    Robert Green Ingersoll
  • « Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more a man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. »
    Francis Bacon
  • « We were then in a dangerous, helpless situation, exposed daily to perils and death amongst savages and wild beasts, not a white man in the country but ourselves. »
    Daniel Boone
  • « We live in the mind, in ideas, in fragments. We no longer drink in the wild outer music of the streets - we remember only. »
    Henry Miller

See also

  • intractable

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