荒野(こうや)

荒野(こうや) describes desolate, uncultivated wilderness or wasteland.

Writing

荒(こう) (wild, rough) + 野(や) (field, plain)

Alternate readings

• こうや (most common)
• あらの (literary)
• あれの (archaic)

Common collocations

• 広大(こうだい)な荒野(こうや): vast wilderness
• 荒野(こうや)を旅(たび)する: to travel through the wilderness
• 荒野(こうや)に花(はな)が咲(さ)く: flowers bloom in the wasteland

Metaphorical use

Used figuratively to describe emotional desolation or a difficult, lonely situation.

Related words

• 砂漠(さばく): desert
• 原野(げんや): wilderness, plains
• 荒(あ)れ地(ち): wasteland