feral

¹ American  

[feer-uhl, fer-] / ˈfɪər əl, ˈfɛr- /

adjective

1. existing in a natural state, as animals or plants; not domesticated or cultivated; wild.

2. having reverted to the wild state, as from domestication.

   a pack of feral dogs roaming the woods.

3. of or characteristic of wild animals; ferocious; brutal.

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feral ² American  

[feer-uhl, fer-] / ˈfɪər əl, ˈfɛr- /

adjective

1. causing death; fatal.

2. funereal; gloomy.

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feral ¹ British  

/ ˈfɛr-, ˈfɪərəl /

adjective

1. Also: ferine.  (of animals and plants) existing in a wild or uncultivated state, esp after being domestic or cultivated

2. Also: ferine.  savage; brutal

3. derogatory (of a person) tending to be interested in environmental issues and having a rugged, unkempt appearance

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noun

1. derogatory a person who displays such tendencies and appearance

2. slang disgusting

3. slang excellent

feral ² British  

/ ˈfɛr-, ˈfɪərəl /

adjective

1. astrology associated with death

2. gloomy; funereal

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feral Scientific  

/ fîr′əl,fĕr′- /

1. Existing in a wild or untamed state, either naturally or having returned to such a state from domestication.

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Etymology

Origin of feral¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Medieval Latin, Late Latin ferālis “bestial, wild,” from Latin fer(a) “wild beast” + -ālis -al ¹

Origin of feral²

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin fērālis “of the dead, funerary, fatal”

Explanation

When animal control finds a feral dog, they have to handle it very carefully because the animal is so wild that it's probably afraid of humans and likely to bite. Feral is often used to describe a wild, untamed animal, like the feral cat with its claws and sharp teeth menacingly bared, ready to strike. Qualities that are similar to a wild animal can also be called feral. The child who grew alone up in a cabin in the woods, and who didn't go to school, was called feral when she ran away from the orphanage.

Example Sentences

"Here on Rathlin in 2017, a feral ferret reached one of our puffin colonies and killed 27 puffins in a two-day period," she said.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

Scream queen Samara Weaving has an extraordinary yell: shrill, feral and ferocious, like a mongoose before it goes on the attack.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

The sweet, slightly feral smell of soil shrugging off ice.

From Salon • Mar. 1, 2026

Among the precursors of the two-part documentary “Wild Boys: Strangers in Town” is Francois Truffaut’s “The Wild Child” of 1970, the dramatized story of Victor of Aveyron, the celebrated feral enfant of late 1700s France.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

Their features were vague through the gauze of her veil, but Nina glimpsed the tattoos on their forearms: a feral cat curled into a crown—the symbol of the Dime Lions.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Related Words

• ferocious