wasteland
/ˈweɪs(t)land
/ /ˈweɪs(t)lənd/noun [mass noun]
1An unused area of land that has become barren or overgrown: we’d creep through a hole in the fence on this bit of wasteland and play games in the bushes...
- It only comes out at the outskirts of the land where the barren wasteland ends and things begin to grow again.
- The trip would comprise of roughly 750 km through the vast Mongolian prairies and the arid wastelands of the Gobi desert.
- They were denuding the sheep pastures of grass, turning once successful ranches into wastelands and reducing wool production by half.
Synonyms
wilderness, desert, waste, barren land, dust bowl;
wilds, badlands
1.1 (also wastelands) A bleak and unused or neglected urban or industrial area: the restoration of industrial wasteland [count noun]: figurative the mid 70s are now seen as something of a cultural wasteland...
- Government intervention ensures that intercity areas are well kept and that ethnic ghettos and industrial wastelands do not emerge.
- Whether it's rusting machinery and industrial wastelands, or ivy-draped columns, ruins are undeniably romantic.
- My favourite of these are the daffodils which appear everywhere from formal gardens to woodland paths to urban wastelands.