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wandering

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Travelling about without any clear destination.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wahndering

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwɑndɚɪŋ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Travelling about without any clear destination

    “She followed him in his wanderings and looked after him.”

  2. Travelling without preset route; roaming.

  3. chiefly in the plural

    Disordered speech or delirium.

  4. Straying from a desired path.

  5. Aimless thought.

  6. Irregular turning of the eyes.

adjective

  1. Which wanders; travelling from place to place.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Travelling about without any clear destination

Used this way, wandering is a common word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It quietly approves while staying precise.

Heard in a sentence
“She followed him in his wanderings and looked after him.”
Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Common
Connotation
Clear and precise
Usage feel
Precise and approving

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

wandering jewwandering life

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • wanderverbBase word

    Move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • wanderernounPerson or profession

    Someone who leads a wandering unsettled life.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • wandering albatrossnounCompound term

    Very large albatross.

  • wandering jewnounCompound term

    A legendary Jew condemned to roam the world for mocking Jesus at the Crucifixion.

  • wandering nervenounCompound term

    A mixed nerve that supplies the pharynx and larynx and lungs and heart and esophagus and stomach and most of the abdominal viscera.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: which wanders

peregrinerovingnomadic

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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.