Wild West
noun
variants
or less commonly wild west
1
the Wild West
: the western U.S. in its frontier period characterized by roughness and lawlessness
stories about the Wild West
2
: something that is chaotic and uncontrolled especially due to a lack of regulation or oversight
… mulling the idea of regulating an industry that has up until now been something of a Wild West.—
Michelle McQuigg
Michelle McQuiggThe online ecosystem … is a Wild West of information and misinformation that is largely unmonitored, distributed in an instant, and posted by anyone.—Alan Marcus
Alan Marcus
Wild West
adjective
or less commonly wild west
a bar with a Wild West theme
a wild west situation/approach
Examples of Wild West in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Big Chief Howard Miller 60 Minutes Howard Miller is the president of the Mardi Gras Indian Council, a governing body for the tribes, and chief of the Creole Wild West.
—Nichole Marks, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
Ketamine treatment clinics have proliferated following the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug as a remedy for acute depression in 2019, leading to a Wild West of infusion clinics that have expanded treatment access for many Americans without much regulation.
—O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 1 Apr. 2026
For The Times) O’Connor described the Music Valley project as early-stage and speculative, pointing to a mining tradition dating back to the Wild West in which prospectors tout samples that show heavy concentrations of minerals in a bid to loosen investors’ wallets.
—Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
Before Wild West shows and long before the movies, the West as spectacle was being enacted on the railroad tracks.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 24 Mar. 2026
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Nichole Marks, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
Ketamine treatment clinics have proliferated following the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug as a remedy for acute depression in 2019, leading to a Wild West of infusion clinics that have expanded treatment access for many Americans without much regulation.
—O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 1 Apr. 2026
For The Times) O’Connor described the Music Valley project as early-stage and speculative, pointing to a mining tradition dating back to the Wild West in which prospectors tout samples that show heavy concentrations of minerals in a bid to loosen investors’ wallets.
—Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
Before Wild West shows and long before the movies, the West as spectacle was being enacted on the railroad tracks.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for Wild West
Cite this Entry
“Wild West.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Wild%20West. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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