Meaning & use
wildness
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Meanings
noununcountable
the quality of being wild, natural, and not controlled by people.
Grammar: Uncountable: say 'the wildness of the area', not 'a wildness'.
Patterns
- the wildness of something
- a sense of wildness
The wildness of the landscape surprised the visitors.
She loved the wildness of the forest and its animals.
There is a certain wildness in the way the river flows.
noununcountabledisapproving
the quality of behaving in an uncontrolled, excited, or violent way.
Grammar: Often used about people or their behavior; can be disapproving.
Patterns
- wildness in someone's eyes
- a moment of wildness
There was a wildness in his eyes that frightened her.
The wildness of the crowd made the police nervous.
Common combinations
- a sense of wildness
- The empty beach gave her a sense of wildness.
- the wildness of nature
- He wrote poems about the wildness of nature.
- moments of wildness
- Even quiet people have moments of wildness.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wild
- Wild is an adjective; wildness is the noun. Use wild before a noun: 'a wild place'.
- savagery
- Savagery is much stronger and suggests cruel violence, not just natural wildness.
- unruliness
- Unruliness means difficult to control, often about children or crowds; it is more disapproving.
Opposites
Word family
- wild adjective
- living in nature; not controlled
- wildly adverb
- in an uncontrolled or extreme way
- wilderness noun
- a wild natural area
Commonly confused: wildness or wilderness?
wildness vs wilderness
Wilderness is a place, while wildness is a quality.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'wildness' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 is correct because wildness is an uncountable noun used with 'of'. Option 1 is wrong because wildness is not a countable object. Option 2 is wrong because wildness is uncountable and takes a singular verb if used as a subject. Option 3 is wrong because wildness is a noun, not an adjective before a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wildness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.