as in desert
land that is uninhabited or not fit for crops
with proper irrigation and fertilizer, they turned the desert wasteland into a fertile plain
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Recent Examples of wasteland
Around another corner is Hagar in the Wilderness (1875), still inhabiting the wasteland around her after being scorned by Abraham.
—
Tyehimba Jess, ARTnews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
Interstellar stars Matthew McConaughey as Coop, a NASA pilot who tries to find habitable planets as Earth becomes a wasteland.
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
Haggerty noted what the Artemis crew saw on the moon’s surface, including steep canyon walls and barren wasteland.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
Jungle The tropical world is full of jungles, but the word jungle itself is from Sanskrit, jaṅgala (through Hindi jaṅgal), meaning a desert or wasteland area.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wasteland
Tyehimba Jess, ARTnews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
Interstellar stars Matthew McConaughey as Coop, a NASA pilot who tries to find habitable planets as Earth becomes a wasteland.
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
Haggerty noted what the Artemis crew saw on the moon’s surface, including steep canyon walls and barren wasteland.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
Jungle The tropical world is full of jungles, but the word jungle itself is from Sanskrit, jaṅgala (through Hindi jaṅgal), meaning a desert or wasteland area.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wasteland
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wasteland
desert
Noun
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In the early 20th century, this man-versus-nature oasis was strong-armed into being when mobsters and casino magnates swept into the Nevada desert.—
Zoey Goto,
Architectural Digest,
6 May 2026
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The recent yacht rock renaissance has elevated the profile of both the song and of singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, restoring its status as a certifiable bop after years spent wandering in the desert of unintentional camp.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wasteland.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wasteland. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
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