as in deserts
land that is uninhabited or not fit for crops
with proper irrigation and fertilizer, they turned the desert wasteland into a fertile plain
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Recent Examples of wastelands
This quiz invites you to explore the darker corners of sci-fi literature, where monsters lurk not just in shadows, but in laboratories, alien worlds and post-apocalyptic wastelands.
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Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Krasheninnikov is located in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, which said in a statement that there is no threat to any people or infrastructure as the volcano is largely surrounded by wastelands.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 4 Aug. 2025
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Krasheninnikov is located in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, which said in a statement that there is no threat to any people or infrastructure as the volcano is largely surrounded by wastelands.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wastelands
Noun
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The storms will be widespread — affecting the coastal regions, deserts and mountains — pushing first from Mexico into San Diego County before hitting Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, said National Weather Service meteorologist Lauren Villafane.—
Laylan Connelly,
Oc Register,
16 Sep. 2025
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In the decades since, satellites have surveyed the world’s forests, oceans, deserts and ice.—
Yasemin Saplakoglu,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Given the surrounding terrain, largely comprising volcanic barrens and lava fields, the risk of wildfire remains low, and no life-threatening impacts have been identified.—
Isabel van Brugen,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wastelands.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wastelands. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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