to sow one's wild oats. (16th century)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to engage in reckless and promiscuous behavior, typically when young
Literally: to sow wild oats
Examples
He spent his early twenties sowing his wild oats before settling down
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “to sow one's wild oats. (16th century)” mean?
to engage in reckless and promiscuous behavior, typically when young Literally: to sow wild oats
Is “to sow one's wild oats. (16th century)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.