1. an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region.Similarwildswastesuninhabited regioninhospitable regionuncultivated regionbadlandsjungledesertbundu
▪ a neglected or abandoned area of a garden or town: "the garden had become a wilderness of weeds and bushes"Similarwastelandneglected areaabandoned areano-man's-land
▪ a position of disfavor, especially in a political context:"the man who led the Green Party out of the wilderness"
Word OriginOld Englishwildēornes ‘land inhabited only by wild animals’, from wild dēor ‘wild deer’ + -ness.
