Synonyms for wander
ˈwɒn dərwan·der

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. wanderverb

   Synonyms:
   cheat, err, roam, drift

2. wanderverb

   To move without purpose; often in search of livelihood.

   To go for a wander

   Synonyms:
   roam, drift, err, cheat

3. wanderverb

   To commit adultery.

   Synonyms:
   roam, drift, err, cheat

4. wanderverb

   To go somewhere indirectly or at varying speeds; to move in a curved path.

   Synonyms:
   err, drift, cheat, roam

5. wanderverb

   Of the mind, to lose focus or clarity of argument or attention.

   Synonyms:
   err, cheat, drift, roam

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.7 / 3 votes

1. wander

   To wander (Anglo-Saxon windan, wind) is to move in an indefinite or indeterminate way which may or may not be a departure from a prescribed way; to deviate (Latin de, from, and via, a way) is to turn from a prescribed or right way, physically, mentally, or morally, usually in an unfavorable sense; to diverge (Latin di, apart, and vergo, incline, tend) is to turn from a course previously followed or that something else follows, and has no unfavorable implication; to digress (Latin di, apart, aside, and gradior, step) is used only with reference to speaking or writing; to err is used of intellectual or moral action, and of the moral with primary reference to the intellectual, an error being viewed as in some degree due to ignorance. Range, roam, and rove imply the traversing of considerable, often of vast, distances of land or sea; range commonly implies a purpose; as, cattle range for food; a hunting-dog ranges a field for game. Roam and rove are often purposeless, and always without definite aim. To swerve or veer is to turn suddenly from a prescribed or previous course, and often but momentarily; veer is more capricious and repetitious; the horse swerves at the flash of a sword; the wind veers; the ship veers with the wind. To stray is to go in a somewhat purposeless way aside from the regular path or usual limits or abode, usually with unfavorable implication; cattle stray from their pastures; an author strays from his subject; one strays from the path of virtue. Stray is in most uses a lighter word than wander. Ramble, in its literal use, is always a word of pleasant suggestion, but in its figurative use always somewhat contemptuous; as, rambling talk.

   Synonyms:
   deviate, digress, diverge, err, go astray, ramble, range, roam, rove, stray, swerve, veer

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.8 / 6 votes

1. wander

   Synonyms:
   ramble, range, stroll, rove, expatiate, roam, deviate, stray, depart, err, swerve, straggle, saunter, navigate, circumnavigate, travel

   Antonyms:
   rest, stop, perch, bivouac, halt, lie, anchor, alight, settle, moor, pause, repose

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 2 votes

1. roll, wander, swan, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabondverb

   move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

   "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town"

   Synonyms:
   roam, project, hustle, wrap, verify, spue, redact, affirm, drift, draw, cast off, wave, array, assert, cheat on, mold, float, cast, put, twine, slog, turn over, avow, cheat, throw away, frame, place, roll up, seethe, pasture, crop, vomit up, browse, chuck, mould, roll, throw up, contrive, retch, purge, rate, betray, tramp, disgorge, swear, plod, meander, flap, blow, lay out, pad, shed, wheel, shake off, barf, graze, weave, stray, wind, range, vagabond, swan, rank, grade, couch, thread, pluck, freewheel, rove, be adrift, ramble, regurgitate, cuckold, throw off, straddle, throw, cat, vomit, ramble on, revolve, order, hurtle, spew, honk, roll out, regorge, drop, set out, aver, run, jog, hurl, trudge, err, upchuck, footslog, be sick, undulate, digress, sick, divagate, puke

2. cheat on, cheat, cuckold, betray, wanderverb

   be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage

   "She cheats on her husband"; "Might her husband be wandering?"

   Synonyms:
   roll, betray, vagabond, shaft, stag, wind, meander, ramble, thread, chicane, screw, deceive, range, fail, stray, sell, bewray, chouse, snitch, lead astray, roam, cheat, shit, give away, grass, rip off, shop, chisel, cast, divagate, weave, digress, jockey, swan, tramp, rove, denounce, cuckold, drift, tell on, cheat on, rat

3. wanderverb

   go via an indirect route or at no set pace

   "After dinner, we wandered into town"

   Synonyms:
   cuckold, cheat on, rove, range, betray, ramble, divagate, cast, roam, wind, swan, roll, digress, drift, stray, cheat, thread, weave, tramp, meander, vagabond

4. weave, wind, thread, meander, wanderverb

   to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course

   "the river winds through the hills"; "the path meanders through the vineyards"; "sometimes, the gout wanders through the entire body"

   Synonyms:
   rove, vagabond, wind, meander, nose, hoist, thread, wrap, twist, range, stray, string, roll, lift, twine, scent, cast, cheat, wreathe, tissue, divagate, curve, digress, swan, wind up, tramp, cheat on, interweave, draw, betray, ramble, cuckold, drift, waver, weave, roam

5. digress, stray, divagate, wanderverb

   lose clarity or turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument in writing, thinking, or speaking

   "She always digresses when telling a story"; "her mind wanders"; "Don't digress when you give a lecture"

   Synonyms:
   sidetrack, cheat on, ramble, rove, range, stray, divagate, err, cast, betray, thread, cheat, roam, wind, roll, digress, swan, cuckold, drift, depart, straggle, weave, tramp, meander, vagabond

Matched Categories

1. • Proceed
   • Tell
   • Travel

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wanderverb

   Synonyms:
   ramble, roam, rove, stroll, straggle, range, range about, gad about

2. wanderverb

   Synonyms:
   deviate, swerve, stray, digress, turn aside, go astray

3. wanderverb

   Synonyms:
   be delirious, be crazed

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. wanderverb

   Synonyms:
   ramble, range, rove, stroll, roam, stray, straggle, itinerate, saunter, gad, peregrinate, digress, expatiate, depart, deviate, swerve

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "wander":

   roam

How to pronounce wander?

How to say wander in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use wander in a sentence?

1. Emmy Lu:

   I’m so happy [about the reopening]! because of the pandemic, I could only wander around the country for the past years. It was difficult.

2. J. R. R. Tolkien:

   All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

3. Ben Carson:

   I don't wander off into those extraneous areas that can be exploited. I have learned that, moral decay and fiscal irresponsibility.

4. J. R. R. Tolkien:

   Not all those who wander are lost.

5. Roy Chapman Andrews, Ends of the Earth, 1929:

   It has just been twenty-three years since I began to wander. In the next twenty-three years I wonder if there will come a time when life is no longer a wonderful adventure; when there is not some interesting experience in things or personalities waiting just around the corner. If that time does come, I hope that my release will be swift.