wasteland

noun

waste·​land ˈwāst-ˌland 

also -lənd

1

: barren or uncultivated land

a desert wasteland

2

: an ugly often devastated or barely inhabitable place or area

3

: something (such as a way of life) that is spiritually and emotionally arid and unsatisfying

Synonyms of wasteland

• desert
• barren

Examples of wasteland in a Sentence

The outskirts of the city became a grim industrial wasteland.

That part of the country is a cultural wasteland.

the vast wasteland of television

Recent Examples on the Web

Now, the anti-wealth Marxist agenda taking over the Democratic Party is worsening the divide, turning blue-state economies into wastelands and condemning their least mobile residents to poverty. —Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2026

The shrinking lake left behind a wasteland crusted in toxic salt. —Michael Snyder, Saveur, 11 Mar. 2026

This film tells the story of Nausicaa, a young girl living in a wasteland who can communicate with giant insects. —Bestreviews, Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2026

This version is set in a seemingly poisonous, post-nuclear wasteland, filled with flaming tree trunks. —Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wasteland

• ampersand
• beforehand
• behindhand
• bottomland
• contraband
• countermand
• dixieland
• fairyland
• fatherland
• firebrand
• hinterland
• motherland

Kids Definition

wasteland

noun

waste·​land ˈwāst-ˌland 

1

: land that is not cultivated or not fit for the cultivation of crops

2

: an ugly often ruined place or area