Feral Meaning
/ˈfɛɹəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjWild; untamed.
adjWild; untamed., Of an animal, wild but descended from domestic or captive ancestors; thus, in the wild, although not necessarily of the wild type.
Sentence Examples
The farmer had several of his sheep killed by feral dogs.
Farm cats are usually feral or semi-feral.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ cat hissed and ran away when anyone tried to approach it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The island is home to a population of ____ cats that have survived on their own for many generations.
Word Origin & History
From Latin fera (“wild beast”, noun) + -al or Latin ferus (“wild; savage; cruel”, adjective) + -al. Alternatively, borrowed from Middle French féral or Late Latin ferālis.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Among the ensemble’s strange, outmoded, “original” instruments — the feral horns, sour violins, wooden flutes, cellos without endpins — she seemed right at home, despite her Broadway provenance."
— 2007 July 8, Jesse Green, “Let Her Entertain You. Please!”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 24 Nov 2020:
"This subject has been ably treated by several authors, and I shall, in my future work, discuss some of the checks at considerable length, more especially in regard to the feral animals of South America."
— 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species:
"It owes its existence to a feral culture of internet goblins who sentence-mixed the same few janky cutscenes for years."
— 2023 July 13, Harvey Randall, “The internet shitposted too close to the sun, and now we're getting a spiritual successor to the most cursed Zelda games of all time”, in PC Gamer:
"There were about fifty tables and the customers were packed in like black olives in a jar. It was hot and the air was thick with smoke and the sweet, feral smell of two hundred negro bodies."
— 1954, Ian Fleming, “Table Z”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 55:
"Miners fans have been going absolutely feral over you, [and] you're also disgustingly talented. People want you to play for them! You had Canadians bitching about you being American born the first time you played for Team USA."
— 2022 February 15, Stephanie Hoyt, The Magic Between, NineStar Press, →ISBN:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ cat hissed and ran away when anyone tried to approach it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The island is home to a population of ____ cats that have survived on their own for many generations.