feral
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A domesticated animal that has returned to the wild.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fehruhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɛɹəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A domesticated (non-human) animal that has returned to the wild; an animal, particularly a domesticated animal, living independently of humans.
furry fandom
A furry character in art or literature which has the appearance of a regular animal (typically quadrupedal), that may or may not be able to communicate with humans or "anthros".
Australiacolloquial
A contemptible young person, a lout, a person who behaves wildly.
Australiacolloquial
A person who has isolated themselves from the outside world; one living an alternative lifestyle.
adjective
Wild; untamed.
Of an animal, wild but descended from domestic or captive ancestors; thus, in the wild, although not necessarily of the wild type.
Of a person, contemptible; unruly; misbehaved.
Deadly, fatal.
Of or pertaining to the dead, funereal.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A domesticated (non-human) animal that has returned to the wild; an animal, particularly a domesticated animal, living independently of humans.
Used this way, feral is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: domesticated (non-human) animal that has returned to the wild
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.