wild oat
wild oat Lexical Profile
• noun
An act of youthful indiscretion, foolishness, or promiscuity.
"He spent his university years sowing his wild oats before finally committing to a serious career and marriage."
A tall, coarse wild grass native to Eurasia, which often grows as a troublesome weed in cultivated cereal crops and is considered an ancestor to cultivated oats.
"The farmer applied a targeted herbicide to eradicate the wild oat that was slowly choking his commercial wheat field."
Word Nuance & Usage
While literally referring to a grassy weed, the term is predominantly encountered in the plural idiom 'to sow one's wild oats,' which refers to engaging in youthful excesses before settling down.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Middle English 'wilde' and 'ote'. The figurative idiom originated in the 16th century, playing on the agricultural folly of sowing useless weeds rather than productive cereal crops.