wandering

[won-der-ing]

adjective

1. moving from place to place without a fixed plan; roaming; rambling.

   Crowds of wandering tourists crossed the square.

2. having no permanent residence; nomadic.

   They were historically a wandering people, moving seasonally through the area.

3. meandering; winding.

   They followed a wandering path down the mountain.

noun

1. an aimless roving about; leisurely traveling from place to place.

   For our honeymoon we had a period of delightful wandering through Italy.

2. Usually wanderings.

   1. aimless travels; meanderings.

      Her wanderings took her all over the world.

   2. disordered thoughts or utterances; incoherencies.

      mental wanderings;

      the wanderings of delirium.

3. seemingly aimless or random movement from one place to another by a person with a mental or cognitive disability or impairment.

   Wandering by Alzheimer’s patients is a problem in nursing homes.

Other Word Forms

• wanderingly adverb
• wanderingness noun
• unwandering adjective
• unwanderingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of wandering¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English (noun, adjective), Old English wandrigende (adjective); wander ( def. ), -ing ² ( def. ), -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

The buzz of millions wandering around 'The City That Never Sleeps'.

From BBC

Then it grows small again, a lonely keyboard wandering a broken chord as Bryant’s voiceover admits that his body can only play for so long.

From Los Angeles Times

Come nightfall, the eerie silence is often pierced by the woeful bleat of a wandering burro.

From Los Angeles Times

Unverified videos and images published by TMZ appear to show the rapper wandering the streets before the police altercation unfolded.

From BBC

He was found wandering on the freeway, as if daring cars to hit him.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• meandering 
• nomadic 
• roving