wilderness
wild·er·ness/ˈwɪldɚnəs/noun
wilderness is spelled W-I-L-D-E-R-N-E-S-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables (wild·er·ness). It appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wilderness means “Uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state inhabited by wild animals and with vegetation growing wild; (countable) a tract of such land; a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wilderness is wildernesses.
How many letters and syllables are in wilderness?
| Letters | 10: W-I-L-D-E-R-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: wild·er·ness |
| In writing | 8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is wilderness?
Wilderness appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wilderness?
- UK /ˈwɪldənəs/
- UK /-nɪs/
- US /ˈwɪldɚnəs/
Wilderness has 3 syllables, split wild·er·ness in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wilderness.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wilderness
- wildernesses plural
- wildernesse
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wilderness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
A place other than land (for example, the air or sea) that is uncared for, and therefore devoted to disorder or wildness.
- 3
An ornamental part of a garden or park cultivated with trees and often a maze to evoke a natural wilderness.
- 4
obsoleteUnrefinedness; wildness.
- 5
Chiefly followed by of: a bewildering flock or throng; a large, often jumbled, collection of things.
- 6
A place or situation that is bewildering and in which one may get lost.
- 7
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wilderness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense uncultivated and unsettled land in its natural state; a tract of such land:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nature sauvage, région sauvage, contrée sauvage |
| German | Wildnis, Wüste |
| Portuguese | mato, sertão, selva, vastidão |
| Spanish | descampado, jungla, maleza, monte, naturaleza, páramo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.