wild frontier
Uncivilized outer territory
A wild frontier is an unsettled border region beyond established civilization—historically, the American West during its expansion era.
The phrase evokes lawlessness, danger, and opportunity in equal measure.
Figuratively, any new or unregulated domain becomes a wild frontier: The internet was once a wild frontier.
The modifier wild emphasizes the untamed, unpredictable nature of such territory.
- untamedNot domesticated
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- manifest destinyObvious, inescapable fate
- outlawFugitive from justice
- prairieOpen grassy flatland
open range · wide open spaces · rugged · exploration · settlers · lawless · expanse · uncharted · no man's land · horizon · cowboys · dusty · homestead · adventure · territory · borderland · harsh · freedom
- adventureadventure, quest, quests, exploration, explorers
- Enchanted Woodsenchanted forest, dark forest, haunted forest, sacred grove, Mirkwood
- Nature Fantasyenchanted forest, talking animals, nature spirits, tree of life, world tree
- unexplored placesdeep sea, unmapped, undiscovered, deep ocean, uncharted
- borderlandsborderland, borderlands, border, border zone, border region
wild frontiercivilization
Advanced organized human society
metropolis · urban center · the old country · city · Old World
wild frontiercontemporary society
Present-day collective human existence
wild, frontier, wilder, wildest, wildly, wildness, wilds, wilderness, wilding