Meaning & use
feral
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Living in the wild after being a tame or farm animal, or descended from animals that once were.
Grammar: Usually before a noun: a feral cat.
Patterns
- feral cats/dogs/pigs
A colony of feral cats lives behind the old warehouse.
Feral pigs have damaged crops across the region.
Volunteers are trying to catch and neuter the feral dogs.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Wild, savage or fierce in a way that is not controlled by manners or rules.
Grammar: Often figurative: a feral look.
Patterns
- a feral look
- feral behavior
He had a feral look in his eyes after days without sleep.
The crowd turned feral once the lights went out.
Her feral energy on stage thrilled the audience.
adjectivecomparableinformalAustralian
In Australian informal use, describing someone with an untidy, unconventional or very rough lifestyle or appearance.
Grammar: Informal and not always polite.
The house was feral after a week of student parties.
He looked a bit feral after the camping trip.
That car is feral; the seats are covered in mud.
Common combinations
- feral cat
- A feral cat darted under the shed.
- feral animals
- Feral animals can threaten native wildlife.
- feral child
- Stories of a feral child raised by wolves fascinate many readers.
- go feral
- The garden has gone feral since the owners left.
- feral population
- The feral population of goats on the island keeps growing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wild
- Wild covers any untamed animal or place, but feral means an animal that was once domesticated.
- untamed
- Untamed stresses that an animal or person is not controlled, without saying it was ever domestic.
- savage
- Savage stresses cruelty or violence, which feral does not necessarily imply.
- stray
- A stray animal has lost its home and may still be friendly, whereas a feral animal lives wild and avoids people.
Opposites
Word family
- ferality noun
- the state of being feral (rare)
- feral noun
- an animal that has gone wild (rare)
- feralize verb
- to become feral
- ferine adjective
- wild, like a beast (rare)
Commonly confused: feral or fertile? feral or stray?
feral vs fertile
Fertile means able to produce crops or offspring and looks like feral, but the two words are unrelated.
feral vs stray
A stray is a lost pet or street animal that may still be used to humans, whereas a feral animal lives wild and fears them.
Practice
Which animal is best described as 'feral'?
Choose one answer.
Feral describes an animal living wild after generations from domestic stock. The pet cat and farm horse are tame, and the zoo lion was never domesticated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “feral”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.