What does wildman mean?
A wildman is, literally, a man described as wild or uncivilized. The word can refer to a person who behaves in an uncontrolled, violent, or uninhibited way, but its historical sense also applied to people portrayed as living outside settled society or modern European culture. Because such descriptions were often shaped by colonial assumptions, the term is now chiefly historical and literary, and may be inappropriate when referring to identifiable peoples or individuals. Nineteenth-century usage included a distinctive zoological sense: an orangutan was called the "wild man of Borneo," an example of how European observers sometimes placed the great ape within a human category. The one-word form preserves the archaic force of this expression and is uncommon in contemporary standard English. In modern informal writing, it may appear as a vivid, occasionally exaggerated description of someone behaving erratically or enthusiastically, though that use can sound deliberately old-fashioned.
nounA wild, uncivilized, or uncultured man. Historically, the term was also used for an orangutan, especially in the phrase "wild man of Borneo."
- A man regarded as wild, uncivilized, or lacking settled social or cultural organization.
- A man behaving in a violent, uncontrolled, or uninhibited manner.
- Historically, an orangutan, especially in the phrase "wild man of Borneo."
"The explorer was described in the colonial press as a wildman, though the label reflected the attitudes of his era more than any objective description of the people he encountered."
"Novels of the period often portrayed the frontier settler as a solitary wildman."
"The orangutan was advertised in Victorian times as the "wild man of Borneo.""
The irregular plural changes man to men, as in other compound nouns ending in man, such as firemen.
"The stories portray isolated wildmen who live beyond the reaches of society."
In the nineteenth century, an orangutan could be introduced to readers as the "wild man of Borneo"—a reminder that a word can preserve the history of the attitudes that created it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does wildman come from?
Wildman is an English compound formed from wild and man, in the older sense of a person living beyond or outside organized social life. The compound has historical roots in the late medieval and early modern period, when similar wording was used in descriptions of supposedly uncivilized people. Its later association with orangutans produced the expression "wild man of Borneo." It shares the older Germanic and English lexical inheritance reflected in related forms such as wilderness, wildly, and wildness.
How wildman is actually used
The word is now uncommon and generally archaic, historical, or literary. Its older use for non-European peoples reflects colonial and anthropological attitudes and can be offensive or inappropriate in modern contexts. In the expression "wild man of Borneo," it refers to an orangutan.