wastelands
Barren, uninhabited regions
Wastelands are barren, desolate areas where little grows or lives—deserts, ruins, or land too damaged for use.
The term extends to anything culturally or spiritually empty: a cultural wasteland, the wasteland of cable television.
T.S.
Eliot's 1922 poem "The Waste Land" shaped the word's association with modern alienation and decay.
Bleak and abandoned
- aridDevoid of water
- infertileUnable to produce offspring
- inhospitableUnwelcoming, harsh to visitors
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
dusty · rocky · badlands · moonscape · tundra · steppe · droughty · sere
Abandoned or neglectful
- forsakenCompletely abandoned or discarded
- neglectedNot given proper attention
- vacantWithout an occupant
- uninhabitedHaving no occupants
disused · forgotten · deserted · empty · ghost town · ruins · overgrown · hollowed-out
Quality of being dreary
- emptinessAbsence of substance
- lonelinessState of lacking companions
- solitudeState of being alone
- isolationComplete separation from others
forlornness · silence · gloom · dreariness · hopelessness · void · despair · alienation
Decayed structural remains
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- blightPlant disease causing decay
- degradationDecline in condition
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
pollution · erosion · corrosion · rubble · debris · wreckage · devastation · ruination
Not domesticated
- wildNot domesticated or controlled
- backcountrySparsely populated wilderness areas
- hinterlandRemote area beyond settlements
- outbackRemote interior wilderness
frontier · trackless · uncharted · uncultivated · primeval · savage · rugged · hostile
desolate
Bleak and abandoned
- aridDevoid of water
- infertileUnable to produce offspring
- inhospitableUnwelcoming, harsh to visitors
parched · dusty · rocky · badlands · moonscape · tundra · steppe · droughty · sere · unproductive
derelict
Abandoned or neglectful
- forsakenCompletely abandoned or discarded
- neglectedNot given proper attention
- vacantWithout an occupant
uninhabited · disused · forgotten · deserted · empty · ghost town · ruins · overgrown · hollowed-out · depopulated
bleakness
Quality of being dreary
- emptinessAbsence of substance
- lonelinessState of lacking companions
- solitudeState of being alone
isolation · forlornness · silence · gloom · dreariness · hopelessness · void · despair · alienation · melancholy
ruins
Decayed structural remains
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- blightPlant disease causing decay
- degradationDecline in condition
contamination · pollution · erosion · corrosion · rubble · debris · wreckage · devastation · ruination · dilapidation
untamed
Not domesticated
- wildNot domesticated or controlled
- backcountrySparsely populated wilderness areas
- hinterlandRemote area beyond settlements
outback · frontier · trackless · uncharted · uncultivated · primeval · savage · rugged · hostile · forbidding
- game environmentsdungeons, arenas, mazes, open worlds, labyrinths
- barren landsbadlands, drylands, scrubland, salt flats, dust bowl
- hellholeshellhole, dungeons, dungeon, dump, dumps
wastelandsfertile valleys
Productive land between hills
farmland · breadbaskets · orchards · arable land · meadows
wastelandssettlements
Established communities or agreements
cities · metropolises · urban centers · homesteads · civilization
- nuclear wastelandLand poisoned by radiation
- frozen wastelandDesolate ice-covered region