荒野・荒れ野・曠野|こうやkouya[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. nounwasteland; wilderness; deserted land; prairie; vast plain; wilds; desert; wild land
   新あらたな入植者にゅうしょくしゃ達たちがその広大こうだいな荒野あらのを開拓かいたくした。↗

   The newcomers cultivated the immense wilderness.

• Synonym原野げんやNeutralUncultivated land overgrown with grass and brush; a land-category term. Unlike 「荒野」, it need not be desolate.
• Synonym荒蕪地こうぶちWrittenLand left uncultivated, overgrown with weeds and shrubs; a legal and agricultural term, rarer than 「荒野」.
• Synonym荒原こうげんWrittenA desolate stretch of wilderness; written style, with a literary flavor.
• Related未開地みかいちNeutralAn undeveloped area; also land seen as uncivilized. It stresses lack of civilization rather than barren ground.

Use 「荒野」 for a desolate wilderness; it is literary and also written 「荒れ野」. For undeveloped or uncivilized land say 「未開地」, for the land-category term 「原野」 (not necessarily desolate), and in written prose 「荒原」; 「荒蕪地」 is a rare legal/agricultural word.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 荒あれた野原のはら。