Meanings
- usuallyLiving and roaming freely in nature; not domesticated.
But during its lifetime, a single macaw left in the wild might yield more than 16 times as much in tourist income.
2008, G. Tyler Miller, Scott Spoolman, Sustaining the Earth: an integrated approach, page 107 - figurativelyAt large.
A new, deadly type of virus has been detected in the wild.
2006, Wally Wang, Steal this computer book 4.0: what they won't tell you about the Internet1 more example
Many of the exploits discovered by cyber security researchers are often found and patched before the public is even made aware of the problem or actual exploits are found out in the wild.
2020 October 25, Marco Chiappetta, “Update Google Chrome And Chrome OS Now To Fix This Newly Discovered Exploit”, in Forbes - figurativelyIn practical use, as opposed to in a dictionary or wordlist.
This word is very rare; it may be difficult to find usages of it in the wild.
- figurativelyBy coincidence in the course of everyday life.
I'd seen this stock photo in memes a hundred times, but yesterday I saw it in the wild, illustrating a magazine article.
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Dutch in het wild, in de natuur
- in het wildnot domesticated
- in de natuurnot domesticated
- in het wildin language use
Finnish luonnossa, vapaana
- luonnossanot domesticated
- vapaananot domesticated
- luonnossaat large
- vapaanaat large
- luonnossain language use
French dans la nature
- dans la naturenot domesticated
German in freier Natur, in freier Wildbahn
- in freier Naturnot domesticated
- in freier Wildbahnnot domesticated
- wildlebendnot domesticated
Polish na wolności, na wolności
- na wolnościnot domesticated
- na wolnościat large
- na wolnościin language use
Portuguese na natureza
- na naturezanot domesticated
Russian на во́ле, в ди́кой приро́де
- на во́ле (na vóle)not domesticated
- в ди́кой приро́де (v díkoj priróde)not domesticated
Turkish doğada, tabiatta
- doğadanot domesticated
- tabiattanot domesticated
Yiddish אויף דער נאַטור, אין שויס פֿון דער נאַטור
- אויף דער נאַטור (oyf der natúr)not domesticated
- אין שויס פֿון דער נאַטור (in shoys fun der natúr)not domesticated
Cite this entry
in the wild. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20wild
“in the wild.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20wild. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the wild,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20wild.
Source: in the wild on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.