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Glite Dictionary
to sow one's wild oats

to sow one's wild oats

3 9.8
To have many short sexual relationships when young
  • idiom
  • /soʊ wʌnz waɪld oʊts/
  • NSFW
translation icon : vivir la vida loca
  • He decided to travel the world and sow his wild oats while he was still young.
  • just sow their wild oats

Examples

  • In college, many students choose to sow their wild oats before settling down.

  • He never sowed his wild oats.

    Blog text (2)

  • Sure, I sowed my share of wild oats in my day.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • "If I had known I was going to get married so young, I might have sown a lot more wild oats...

    Fiction book (1995)

  • But they are both so young and need to sow some wild oats before settling down, so it's probably better in the long run.

    Blog text (3)

  • You think I don't want you to sow your wild oats?

    L!fe Happens (2011)

  • The only happy marriages are marriages of convenience where both parties have sown their wild oats.

    Anna Karenina (1997)

  • Tanned athletic boys must sow their wild oats.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • A young man should not be encouraged to sow his wild oats while a young woman is told to cover up and not go out with that boy because he's up to no good.

    Blog text (2)

  • I think girls should enjoy the bad boys while they're sowing their wild oats, and then settle for a nice hubby afterwards.

    Blog text (20)

Synonyms

to sow one's oats
vsto sow one's wild oats
  • NSFW
9.9

Have many casual sexual relationships when young before settling down

is more general meaning self indulgent behaviour not only casual sex
to sow wild oats
vsto sow one's wild oats
  • NSFW
9.6

Behave carelessly and have many romantic adventures before settling down

focuses on promiscuity and self indulgence rather than recklessness

Antonyms

to settle down
173 3.0

To start living a quiet, steady life by having a regular job or a family

How Reckless

to sow one's wild oats
  • NSFW
3 9.8
to freewheel
  • Informal
1 7.3

Surface Forms

sow one's wild oats infinitive
sowing one's wild oats present participle
sows one's wild oats third person singular
sowed one's wild oats past
sowed one's wild oats past participle

Morphology

sow + one's + wild + oats

The idiomatic meaning 'to behave promiscuously or self-indulgently' cannot be transparently derived from the literal parts 'sow' (to plant), 'wild' (untamed) and 'oats' (a cereal); the phrase is a historical agricultural metaphor whose connection to youthful sexual or hedonistic behavior is culturally specific. This semantic shift is unpredictable and requires prior exposure, so an average B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not reliably infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Sow one's wild oats comes from old farming: to sow is to scatter seed and wild oats were useless weed seeds that made a poor crop. So the image of throwing away worthless seeds became a picture of a young person 'living wildly' or being careless before settling down.