wild
wild (wīld)
adjective
- living or growing in its original, natural state and not normally domesticated or cultivated wild flowers, wild animals
- not lived in or cultivated; overgrown, waste, etc. wild land
- not civilized; savage a wild tribe
- not easily restrained or regulated; not controlled or controllable; unruly, rough, lawless, etc. wild children
- characterized by a lack of social or moral restraint; unbridled in pursuing pleasure; dissolute, orgiastic, etc. a wild rake, a wild party
- violently disturbed; turbulent; stormy a wild seacoast
- in a state of intense excitement; specif.,
- eager or enthusiastic, as with desire or anticipation wild with delight
- angered, frenzied, frantic, crazed, etc. wild with desperation
- in a state of disorder, disarrangement, confusion, etc. wild hair
- fantastically impractical; visionary a wild scheme
- showing a lack of sound judgment; reckless; imprudent a wild wager
- going wide of the mark aimed at; missing the target a wild swing in boxing
- Slang extraordinary; remarkable a wild success
- Card Games having any value specified by the holder: said of a card deuces, when wild in poker, may be counted as aces, kings, etc.
Etymology: ME wilde < OE, akin to Ger wild, prob. < IE base *wel-, shaggy hair, unkempt > wool, vole
adverb
in a wild manner; wildly; without aim or control to shoot wild
noun
a wilderness or wasteland
run wild
to grow, exist, or behave without control
the wild
the wilderness, nature, the out-of-doors, etc.
wild
modif.
Not controlled
unrestrained, unmanageable, boisterous; see disorderly 1, unruly.Uncivilized
barbarous, savage, undomesticated; see primitive 3.Not cultivated
luxuriant, lush, exuberant, dense, excessive, desolate, waste, desert, weedy, untrimmed, impenetrable, uninhabited, native, natural, untouched, virgin, overgrown, uncultivated, untilled, uncared for, neglected, overrun, free, rampant, untamed. Undomesticated
untamed, untrained, unbroken, not housebroken. Inaccurate
Stormy
disturbed, raging, storming; see turbulent.Excited
hot, eager, avid; see excited.Dissolute
unbridled, loose, licentious, profligate, orgiastic; see also lewd 2.Imprudent
run wild
Modifying Another Word
- truly: Charnwood Lodge remains one of the last truly wild areas in the Forest.
- pretty: South American fiestas can be pretty wild with drinking, dancing, games and music.
- wonderfully: Beyond that, tho, both places have wonderfully wild and unspoiled tracts, and are populated by proudly independent-minded people.
- essentially: Even the Council of Europe recognizes that ducks are essentially wild birds ( 2 ).
- absolutely: Absolutely wild in terms of his reaction to anything, any mention of David Phillips at all.
- rather: Unlike Goffman's often rather wild theorizing this study is based on detailed analysis of 1120 consultations, mostly in children's neurology clinics.
Converse of object
- explore: In contrast, you could explore the wilds of Exmoor National Park.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
- drive: Angie Brown drove the crowd wild and got festival goers to their feet dancing under the beautiful sunshine.
Modifies a noun
- boar: Despite numerous signs of wild boar, we failed to find any.
- flower: Below lie bright green meadows alive with wild flowers all summer.
- animal: Born Free will continue to spread the message: wild animals belong in the wild.
- beast: Today, wild beasts are confined to the Theological Gardens.
- bird: Most of these do not affect wild birds or only cause mild illness in birds.
- mushroom: Do not feed wild mushrooms to people who don't want to eat them.
Used with adjective complement
- grow: Around one hundred of these remarkable trees, ' living fossils ' , are known to be growing wild.
- go: Wild Garden You stand panting in a clearing of a garden gone wild, behind a dark ruin of a house.
- run: Here the river runs wild with no dams to slow her pace.
- live: Reindeer can be found living wild in parts of Norway but perhaps the most curious creature is the wolverine.
- seem: To him it seemed as wild a tale as it may now seem to you.
- become: But how do you make a garden wildlife friendly without it becoming plain wild?
And the wild regrets, and the bloody sweats, None knew so well as I: For he who lives more lives than one More deaths than one must die.
My mother bore me in the southern wild, And I am black, but O! my soul is white; White as an angel is the English child, But I am black as if bereaved of light.
The Call of the Wild.
Propinquity had brought Imagination to that pitch where it casts out All that is not itself. I had grown wild And wandered murmuring everywhere,'My child, my child.'
I'm wild again Beguiled again A simpering, whimpering child again, Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I.
Where we such clusters had, As made us nobly wild, not mad; And yet each verse of thine Out-did the meat, out-did the frolic wine.
A manner rude and wild Is common at your age.
I never saw a wild thing Sorry for itself.
They flee from me, that sometime did me seek, With naked foot, stalking in my chamber. I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek, That now are wild, and do not remember That sometime they put themselves in danger To take bread at my hand; and now they range, Busily seeking with a continual change.
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing.
She was not really bad at heart, But only rather rude and wild; She was an aggravating child.
Yes! in the sea of life enisled, With echoing straits between us thrown, Dotting the shoreless watery wild, We mortal millions live alone.
A Walk on the Wild Side.
Something there had been, something delicate, wild and far away. But it was shut out behind the doors of yesterday, lost beyond the hills.
This rortie wretched city Sair come down frae its auld hiechts öThe hauf o't smug, complacent, Lost til all pride of race or spirit, The tither wild and rouch as ever In its secret hairt But lost alsweill, the smeddum tane, The man o'independent mind has cap in hand the day öSits on its craggy spine And drees the wind and rain That nourished all its genius öWeary wi centuries This empty capital snorts like a great beast Caged in its sleep, dreaming of freedom.
Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow-creatures is amusing in itself.
Search then the Ruling Passion:There, alone, The wild are constant and the cunning known; The fool consistent, and the false sincere; Priests, princes, women, no dissemblers here. This clue once found, unravels all the rest.
And the wild boys innocent as strawberries.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain There is written, her fair neck round about: Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am, And wild for to hold, though I seem tame. See Bible118:23.
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh, hear!
I am as free as nature first made man, Ere the base laws of servitude began, When wild in woods the noble savage ran.
Shall I leave all this constant company, And follow headlong, wild uncertain thee?
Now the great winds shorewards blow; Now the salt tides seawards flow; Now the wild white horses play, Champ and chafe and toss in the spray.
Browse dictionary entries near wild
- wild allspice
- wild boar
- wild card
- wild carrot
- wild-eyed
- wild fig
- wild geranium
- wild ginger
- wild-goose chase
- wild hog
