feral

Think of a kitten separated from its mother at a young age. Left to fend for itself, it might grow up feral, meaning wild and not used to people. The word originally described animals that had returned to a wild state, but it is now also sometimes used about people in an informal way when they seem very wild, rough, or out of control. A feral child, for example, would be one raised away from normal society, lacking basic social skills. You might even say a particularly energetic toddler is acting "a little feral" after too much sugar. The context usually makes it clear whether the word describes an animal living wild or a person behaving in a very untamed way.

The word feral originally described domesticated animals that have returned to a wild state. Think of horses running free on the plains, descendants of once-tamed animals. It comes from the Latin ferus, meaning wild or savage. While it still most commonly refers to animals, such as a feral cat roaming alleyways or a pack of feral dogs surviving in the wilderness, feral can also be used to describe people and their behavior.

When applied to humans, feral does not always literally mean living in the wild, though that is possible. More often, it is used literally in the phrase "feral child" for someone raised outside normal human society, often without enough human contact, and showing very limited social behavior. In informal speech, it can also suggest that someone seems untamed, badly behaved, or almost wild.

More broadly, feral can describe behavior that is unrestrained, chaotic, or wildly energetic. You might say someone "behaved in a feral manner" at a concert, meaning they were loud, excited, and uninhibited. You could also describe a garden overgrown with weeds as "looking rather feral."

So whether it describes the natural instincts of an animal, the lack of socialization in a human, or simply a wild and untamed energy, feral suggests a life or behavior that has slipped away from human control and returned to something more raw.