wilderness

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Politics Formal

n. a time when a person or group, especially a politician, has no power or influence.

n. a period of time during which a person or political party is out of office or lacks public influence. Often used in the phrase 'in the wilderness'.

“After losing the election, the party leader spent ten years in the political wilderness.”

“Churchill's years in the wilderness during the 1930s allowed him to develop the independent perspective that would later define his wartime leadership.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Literary

n. a large and messy group of things that is difficult to understand or organize.

n. a bewildering or jumbled collection of things. Typically followed by the preposition 'of'.

“The old library was a wilderness of dusty books and forgotten papers.”

“The legal case became a wilderness of conflicting testimonies and technicalities that baffled even the most experienced judges.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun horticulture Archaic · Technical

n. a part of a large garden designed to look wild, often with many trees or a maze.

n. a section of a formal garden or park intentionally planted to simulate a natural wild state, often featuring dense trees or labyrinths.

“The estate included a small wilderness where guests could walk among the oak trees.”

“Eighteenth-century landscape architects often included a wilderness to provide a contrast with the rigid symmetry of the parterres near the house.”