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wanderlust

noun
/ˈwɒndəlʌst/UK/ˈwɑndɚˌlʌst/US

Etymology

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.

  1. derived from *lewH-✻ — “to separate; to set free; to untie”
  2. derived from *wendʰ-✻ — “to turn; to wind”
  3. borrowed from Wanderlust — “an urge to travel; a love of the ‘great outdoors’”

Definitions

  1. A strong impulse or longing to travel.

    • 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.

  2. An impulse to be unfaithful or seek out other romantic or sexual partners

    An impulse to be unfaithful or seek out other romantic or sexual partners; a straying heart.

    • Males like lots of rapid anonymous sex. It's a biological drive. When you get a male-female couple together the male often gives up his wanderlust in exchange for the security of having a home.
    • I was the slapper ... was in a short piece where I was a jealous girlfriend who slapped my date for his wanderlust.
    • Donna was a model of TRUE "Family Values"! She tried to keep Ghoulie as her busband, but his wanderlust could not be controlled.

  3. To feel a strong impulse or longing to travel.

    • Yes, he probably saw a picture of the South Sea islands last night, and now he is wanderlusting.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. To roam or travel widely.

      • "Be assured that we will never weary listening to tales related by one who has wanderlusted so many years," flattered Mrs. Cunningham, [...]
      • Moroney wanderlusted around the business houses, taking a two hour lunch on principle. People inside dealing and dialling, filing and invoicing, collating and collecting, debiting and crediting.

    2. Alternative letter-case form of wanderlust.

      • 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.
      • 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!

The neighborhood

Derived

squanderlust, wanderluster, wanderlustful, wanderlusty

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for wanderlust. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA