Word
badlands
Phoneticsbad·lands
US/ˈbædˌɫændz/
UK/bˈædləndz/
Definition
n. a part of a city or country that is dangerous because of crime or lack of laws.
n. a metaphorical extension referring to a lawless, neglected, or dangerous region or urban district.
Examples
“The explorers traveled through the dry badlands for several days.”
“The cattle rancher moved his herd to the high plains to escape the harsh conditions of the badlands.”
“The fossil beds found in the badlands provide a unique window into the prehistoric ecosystem that once thrived in this now desolate and inhospitable terrain.”
Examples
simple
“The explorers traveled through the dry badlands for several days.”
contextual
“The cattle rancher moved his herd to the high plains to escape the harsh conditions of the badlands.”
complex
“The fossil beds found in the badlands provide a unique window into the prehistoric ecosystem that once thrived in this now desolate and inhospitable terrain.”
Etymology
From earlier Bad Lands, calque of Canadian French mauvaises terres à traverser (“bad lands to cross”), itself a calque of Lakota Makȟóšiča (from makȟá (“land”) + o- (attributive prefix) + šíča (“bad”)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.