Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - wilderness

~ n C usually singular 1 a large area of land that has never been developed or farmed  (a bleak wilderness of undrained marshes) 2 any place where there is no sign of people or their effect  (That garden is a wilderness. | The south side of the city had become a lawless wilderness.) 3 in the wilderness away from the centre of power and activity, especially political activity  (his return to office after several years in the wilderness)