wilderness
/ˈwɪldɚnəs/ noun B2- Uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state inhabited by wild animals and with vegetation growing wild; (countable) a tract of such land; a waste or wild.
- A place other than land (for example, the air or sea) that is uncared for, and therefore devoted to disorder or wildness.
- An ornamental part of a garden or park cultivated with trees and often a maze to evoke a natural wilderness.
- Chiefly followed by of: a bewildering flock or throng; a large, often jumbled, collection of things.
- A place or situation that is bewildering and in which one may get lost.
- Preceded by in the: a situation of disfavour or lack of recognition; (specifically, politics) of a politician, political party, etc.: a situation of being out of office.
Plural wildernesses
From the library
“The world doesn’t seem such a howling wilderness as it did last night.
The Barry garden was a bowery wilderness of flowers which would have delighted Anne’s heart at any time less fraught with destiny.
“Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn.
“And for what cause,” he asked, “have you left the city to dwell alone here in the wilderness?” She made answer, “Because in former times, falsehood was with few, but is now with all men.”
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