# wild

/ˈwaɪɫd/ (US) · /wˈaɪld/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/wild
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. nature and animals

adjective · CEFR A2

living or growing in nature; not kept by people or grown on a farm.

For teachers: living or growing in a natural state; not domesticated or cultivated.

- We saw several wild horses running across the fields during our trip.
- The conservation project aims to reintroduce wild bison to the plains, restoring the natural balance of the ecosystem after decades of absence.

### 2. uncontrolled or exciting

adjective · CEFR B1

very exciting, loud, or not controlled.

For teachers: characterised by a lack of restraint, discipline, or quiet order.

- The fans went wild when their team scored the winning goal.
- The party became increasingly wild as the night progressed, eventually prompting neighbours to call the authorities regarding the noise.

### 3. inaccurate

adjective · CEFR B2

not accurate or far from the target.

For teachers: lacking precision or control; far removed from the intended target or truth.

- He made a wild guess about the price because he had no idea.
- The striker's wild shot flew high over the crossbar, missing the goal by at least ten metres.

### 4. surprising or crazy

adjective · CEFR B2 · Informal · Slang

very surprising, shocking, or hard to believe.

For teachers: highly unusual, remarkable, or extreme in nature; often used to describe shocking news or situations.

- It is wild that we both lived in the same small town and never met.
- The plot twist at the end of the movie was absolutely wild; nobody in the cinema saw it coming.

### 5. stormy weather

adjective · CEFR B2 · Literary

having very strong winds and big waves.

For teachers: characterised by turbulent weather conditions, particularly strong winds and rough seas.

- The sailors struggled to keep the boat steady in the wild sea.
- A wild wind battered the coastal cliffs, sending spray high into the air and making the narrow paths treacherous for hikers.

### 6. substitute card or character

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

a card or symbol that can represent any other card or symbol.

For teachers: denoting a card or character that can be used to represent any other value in a game or search pattern.

- In this card game, the joker is a wild card that helps you win.
- The programmer used a wild character in the search string to find all files ending in a specific extension.

### 7. the wilderness

noun · CEFR B1

an area of land that is far from towns and where no people live.

For teachers: a natural, uncultivated region inhabited only by wild animals; usually used in the plural.

- They spent a week camping in the wild, far away from any roads.
- Few explorers have ventured deep into the northern wilds, where the terrain is unforgiving and the weather changes without warning.

Usage: Usually used as 'the wilds' or 'the wild'.

### 8. acting crazy

verb · CEFR C1 · Slang · American English

to act in a very strange, excited, or unexpected way.

For teachers: to behave in an unrestrained, erratic, or socially unacceptable manner.

- Stop wilding and sit down before you break something.
- The crowd started wilding after the performer jumped off the stage into the front row.

Usage: Commonly used in the progressive form 'wilding' or 'wildin'.

## Examples

- It is rare to see these bears in the wild.
- After months of rehabilitation at the sanctuary, the eagle was finally strong enough to be released back into the wild.
- Conservationists argue that preserving the wild is not merely about protecting individual species, but about maintaining the complex ecological processes that human intervention often disrupts.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.