wasteland

[ weyst-land ]

noun

1. land that is uncultivated or barren.
2. an area that is devastated, as by flood, storm, or war.
3. something, as a period of history, phase of existence, or locality, that is spiritually or intellectually barren.

wasteland

/ ˈweɪstˌlænd /

noun

1. a barren or desolate area of land, not or no longer used for cultivation or building
2. a region, period in history, etc, that is considered spiritually, intellectually, or aesthetically barren or desolate

   American television is a cultural wasteland

Word History and Origins

Origin of wasteland¹

First recorded in 1630–40; waste + -land

Example Sentences

During a campaign stop in Coachella last month, for example, Trump blasted the state as a wasteland of high costs, overregulation, homelessness and crime, mixing real problems facing the state with a litany of falsehoods.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump has blasted the nation as a wasteland of crime, promised the largest mass deportation in history, ridiculed transgender people, suggested Harris isn’t really Black, and advanced the dangerously racist idea, used by dictators past, that immigrants bring “bad genes” into the country.

From Los Angeles Times

The ire of Zuckerberg’s fiercest critics is now focused on Elon Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla chief who took over Twitter, renamed it X, turned it into a desolate wasteland of unmoderated right-wing propaganda, flooded it with his own conspiracy theories, and is campaigning for Donald Trump.

From Slate

Earlier this year, the actor starred in the first season of Prime Video’s Emmy-nominated post-apocalyptic video game adaptation “Fallout,” playing a sheltered young woman who ventures into a violent wasteland to save her dad.

From Los Angeles Times

I have been in only once, in the first month of the war, when Israeli firepower had already turned the areas of northern Gaza that I saw into a wasteland.

From BBC

Related Words

• desert
• swamp