feral

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“
I carve out a home for myself in the perfectly manicured nuapaka hedges on the property's edge and decide to just live here instead like a feral island cat.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Existing in a wild or untamed state.
  2. adjective Having returned to an untamed state from domestication.
  3. adjective Of or suggestive of a wild animal; savage: a feral grin.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • There was also a long discussion of what to do when a language centre goes feral, and stops doing any sensible work on language.
  • Unless a suitable companion to the hatchling is on hand, the dragon will become feral--and thus useless to the British, who lag far beyond the French in dragon breeding. —  Asimov'sSF,August2006
  • Samantha half expected him to wave the bone at her and bellow, “More ale, wench!” He suddenly froze and sniffed at the air, his expression feral. —  YoursUntilDawn
  • When a human goes feral, there is no avoiding the consequences -- especially when his or her identity is unknown. —  F ;SF; - vol 100 issue 01 - January 2001
  • The voice was deep, feral, and edged with a growl. —  Kate Douglas, Lacy Danes, Morgan Hawke - Sexy Beast III
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

wolfish ·  predatory ·  ferocious ·  maniacal ·  catlike ·  demonic ·  feline ·  gleeful ·  primal ·  bestial ·  anguished ·  fiendish
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Latin fera, wild animal, from ferus, wild; see ghwer- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Latin fera, a wild animal, a wild beast (see feræ), + -al.
  2. = Spanish Portuguese feral = Italian ferale, from Latin feralis, of or belonging to the dead, funereal, deadly, fatal, from ferre, = English bear, in reference to the carrying of the dead in funeral procession; cf. English bier, ult. from bear.
 

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/ˈfirəl/
by American Heritage

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