Synonyms of wasteland

wasteland

noun

ˈwāst-ˌland 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• desert
• barren
• wilderness
• desolation
• waste
• heath
• no-man's-land
• bush
• badland
• wild
• brush
• dust bowl
• open
• outdoors
• out-of-doors
• open air
• nature

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of wasteland

No one who witnessed the football wasteland of England 0-0 Algeria in Cape Town in 2010 will ever forget it. — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 24 June 2026

This leaves the mid-market trapped in a dangerous wasteland, forced into destructive promotional cycles to protect foot traffic without possessing the scale to survive thin margins. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 17 June 2026

The state has become a wasteland of high income taxes, infrastructure issues and a homelessness epidemic. — Nicole Russell, USA Today, 11 June 2026

Twilight’s Edward Cullen, first introduced in 2005, was the chivalric corrective to a wasteland of Girls Gone Wild–style masculinity. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026