wanderlust
/ˈwɑndɚˌlʌst/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.65 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An impulse to be unfaithful or seek out other romantic or sexual partners; a straying heart.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Very often we made detours from the main caravan, rejoining it at a given spot, and this spirit of "wanderlust" brought us into a nice quandary one fine day."
- "For the long trail stretched before us, for we heard the call, / Left the hearthstone and the homeland, felt the rover's thrall; / Wandered to the far horizon, sought the joy of life— / Now the wanderlust is waning, heimweh now is rife."
- "The Wanderlust has lured me to the seven lonely seas, / Has dumped me on the tailing-piles of dearth; / The Wanderlust has haled me from the morris chairs of ease, / Has hurled me to the ends of all the earth."
- "They were deliriously happy for a few years, but always her soul felt the call of wanderlust."
- "Apart from a visit to Paris in 1825 he [Adelbert von Chamisso] enjoyed the peace of his home and of his study at Berlin until the hour of his death without any further visitations of Wanderlust."
- "If you find yourself suffering from an attack of Wanderlust, this is the book for you!"
Etymology
Etymology tree Middle High German wandern German wandern Middle High German lust German Lust German Wanderlustbor. English wanderlust Borrowed from German Wanderlust (“an urge to travel; a love of the ‘great outdoors’”), from wandern (“to wander; to hike”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn; to wind”)) + Lust (“a desire, a wish to do or have something; fun, pleasure”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“to separate; to set free; to untie”)); analysable as wander + lust.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *wendʰ-, *lewH-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɑndɚˌlʌst/
- British English: /ˈwɒndəlʌst/