as in deserts
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wastelands
Thirty minutes south, on the Tennessee side of the border, Elon Musk has already begun transforming the industrial wastelands of South Memphis.
—
Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 1 Jan. 2026
Where homes, buildings and fields once stood in the southern city of Rafah, there were now craters and barren wastelands.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
This quiz invites you to explore the darker corners of sci-fi literature, where monsters lurk not just in shadows, but in laboratories, alien worlds and post-apocalyptic wastelands.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Krasheninnikov is located in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, which said in a statement that there is no threat to any people or infrastructure as the volcano is largely surrounded by wastelands.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 4 Aug. 2025
Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 1 Jan. 2026
Where homes, buildings and fields once stood in the southern city of Rafah, there were now craters and barren wastelands.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
This quiz invites you to explore the darker corners of sci-fi literature, where monsters lurk not just in shadows, but in laboratories, alien worlds and post-apocalyptic wastelands.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Krasheninnikov is located in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, which said in a statement that there is no threat to any people or infrastructure as the volcano is largely surrounded by wastelands.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wastelands
Noun
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Chase Travel Chase Travel’s 26 Trips to Take in 2026 highlights where booking demand and cultural curiosity are converging, with destinations spanning rugged deserts, coastal hideaways, Arctic wilderness, and global cultural capitals.—
Samantha Leal,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Jan. 2026
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Over 35% of counties in America are considered OB deserts, or maternal care deserts, meaning there aren’t any obstetric clinicians or hospitals or birth centers providing obstetric care.—
Hannah Nwoko,
Parents,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The population surge caused widespread urchin barrens across the islands.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Dec. 2025
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Given the surrounding terrain, largely comprising volcanic barrens and lava fields, the risk of wildfire remains low, and no life-threatening impacts have been identified.—
Isabel van Brugen,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wastelands.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wastelands. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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