in the wilderness

in the wilderness

Lacking one's former power or influence. (Used especially in reference to politicians.) The former party leader has been in the wilderness ever since he crossed party lines to support the economic recovery bill in the senate.
See also: wilderness
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

in the wilderness

BRITISH, JOURNALISM
COMMON A person or organization's time in the wilderness is a period when they do not have an important role to play and people are not interested in them. He is delighted to get another chance to represent his country after a period in the wilderness. After 10 years in the political wilderness the Danish Labour Party appeared yesterday to be on the verge of returning to power.
See also: wilderness
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

in the ˈwilderness

(of politicians) no longer having power, influence or importance because they no longer hold high office: After a few years in the wilderness she was allowed to return to a job in the government.
See also: wilderness
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • shadow
  • self
  • speak against
  • speak against (someone or something)
  • exvangelical
  • horse and rabbit stew
  • not know which way to turn
  • palimony
  • into the reckoning
  • be living proof of (something)
References in classic literature
"And because you have been a father to me, should I therefore leave you to perish and to lie unburied in the wilderness?" exclaimed the youth.
Must I tell her that he travelled three days' march with me from the field of battle and that then I left him to perish in the wilderness? Were it not better to lie down and die by your side than to return safe and say this to Dorcas?"
"Turn not back with your friends when you meet them, lest your wounds and weariness overcome you; but send hitherward two or three, that may be spared, to search for me; and believe me, Reuben, my heart will be lighter with every step you take towards home." Yet there was, perhaps, a change both in his countenance and voice as he spoke thus; for, after all, it was a ghastly fate to be left expiring in the wilderness.
"You dug a grave for my poor father in the wilderness, Reuben?" was the question by which her filial piety manifested itself.
The heart of Dorcas was not sad; for she felt that it was better to journey in the wilderness with two whom she loved than to be a lonely woman in a crowd that cared not for her.
Among the passengers was John Winthrop, who had sold the estate of his forefathers, and was going to prepare a new home for his wife and children in the wilderness. He had the king's charter in his keeping, and was appointed the first governor of Massachusetts.
Her gentle and timid spirit sinks within her; and, turning away from the window, she sits down in the great chair and wonders whereabouts in the wilderness her friends will dig her grave.
Abstract: In this essay, I examine how Tracy Ross and Cheryl Strayed, while seemingly echoing the American wilderness tradition, deviate from male-dominated wilderness discourse when they recollect their hiking experiences in the wilderness. Ross's The Source of All Things (2011) and Strayed's Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2012), both stories of how the subject structures the world by "encountering" and "framing" nature, evoke what Peter Zhang describes as "interology/interality," a process of "interbeing and becoming" (2015, p.
Currently, medical research in the wilderness helps to expand our understanding of conditions as diverse as congenital heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, sepsis, critical illness, and diabetes.
Forest Service approval and a fee of up to $1,500." The agency has backed away from a proposal to charge a fee for permits to shoot photos and videos in the wilderness areas it administers, but it should drop the idea altogether.
It is simply against the law to be a greedy, reckless pig in the wilderness. It is simply against the law to steal or vandalize whatever you want.
One specific exception found in the Wilderness Act, the allowance of established livestock grazing, is expanded upon in Professor Mark Squillace's contribution.
The letters, written in 1875 and 1876, describe his travels, run-ins with outlaws and American Indians, and survival in the wilderness. Chapter introductions provide context and background.
People resort to medication and psychotherapy for stress, but a few days in the wilderness would do them more good.