wildly

adverb

wild·​ly ˈwī(-ə)l(d)-lē How to pronounce wildly (audio)
Synonyms of wildlynext
1
: in a wild manner
was talking wildly
2
: extremely sense 2
wildly popular
wildly enthusiastic

Synonyms of wildly

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of wildly in a Sentence

He was waving his arms wildly. I'm not wildly enthusiastic about seeing them.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Today a myriad of arts organizations champion wildly diverse missions. — Leslie Pariseau, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Oct. 2026 Patel whiffed a shot attempt at the blue line, swinging his stick wildly. — Richie McGinniss, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026 The series is a big-budget bet for Disney+, adapting a wildly popular webtoon with around 3 billion views worldwide into a lavish romantasy series. — Mathew Scott, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2026 Douglas, 82, has just published an incredibly dishy, wildly entertaining, at times both hilarious and painful new memoir, One Helluva Ride. — Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for wildly

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of wildly was in the 14th century

Rhymes for wildly

See All Rhymes for wildly

Browse Nearby Words

wild lupine
wildly
wild madder
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wildly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wildly. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of deportment

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All