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wasteland

wasteland

58 4.9
A large empty area of land with no plants or people
  • noun
  • /ˈweɪstˌlænd/
translation icon : tierra baldía
  • Israel was little more than a rock-strewn wasteland with a violent history.
  • a barren wasteland
  • a vast wasteland
  • an urban wasteland

It's literally a giant wasteland with monsters in it.

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Examples

Synonyms

waste
vswasteland
61 7.5

A large empty area of land with little or no life

is the longer word form for the same barren land idea
barren
vswasteland
5 7.4

An area of land where little grows and people do not live

refers to a large area rather than any uninhabited plot
scrubland
vswasteland
1 6.6

An area of land covered with short bushes and grasses that is hard to farm

is usually barren or treeless rather than having low shrub cover
badlands
vswasteland
8.7

Dry land with steep, worn hills and little plant life

is broader covering barren or uncultivated land without specific erosion features
heathland
vswasteland
8.6

Open land with low bushes like heather and poor sandy soil

is more barren and unsuitable for habitation or farming than this vegetated land

Antonyms

Land prepared and used for growing crops like wheat or corn

How Barren

desert
894 1.3
wasteland
58 4.9
uncultivated
1 5.1
field
742 1.0
garden
740 1.0

Surface Forms

wasteland singular
wastelands plural

Morphology

wasteland = waste + land (transparent) = waste + land

The meaning is a direct combination of 'waste' (barren/unused) + 'land' (ground), so learners can readily infer 'barren area'.

Etymology

Wasteland comes from the two words waste and land. Waste once meant 'empty' or 'ruined', so a wasteland is land that is empty, uncultivated, and not good for farming or living.