Meaning
A strong, restless desire to travel and see the world. The tone is affectionate and aspirational rather than clinical. Modern English use often stretches beyond travel into general restlessness or a craving for change, somewhat wider than the German original's focus on rambling and hiking; the word is a staple of travel writing, marketing, and casual conversation. Warm, aspirational register with a whiff of cliché in travel marketing and social media captions. Regional use: General English (borrowed from German).
Origin
German Wanderlust joins wandern 'to wander, hike' and Lust 'desire, pleasure', literally 'a desire to roam'. Both halves have English cousins - wander and lust - but English lust narrowed toward a sexual sense that German Lust never did, so the borrowed compound kept a wholesome tone its second element had lost in English. Merriam-Webster records first known English use in 1875, while the Online Etymology Dictionary dates the settled borrowing to 1902 with the sense 'eager desire for travelling'; either way it belongs to the wave of German loanwords naturalised around the turn of the 20th century.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Usage Examples
- After two years at the same desk, wanderlust got the better of her and she booked a one-way ticket.
- His wanderlust was inherited from parents who spent their twenties cycling across three continents.
- The magazine's entire brand is built on selling wanderlust to people stuck in offices.