These words refer to motion or to travel that is slow, aimless, pointless or without purpose or goal. Wander suggests a slow but possibly steady rate of movement. It usually indicates action that is idle or without purpose and is often applied to the movement of water, to travel or to verbal discourse: a stream that wandered through the hilly countryside; nomadic tribes that wander through the desert from oasis to oasis; a disorganized speech that wandered badly from example to example without ever coming to the point. As can be seen, the word acquires a severely negative tone when applied to verbal discourse, emphasizing confusion or ineptness.

In the same context, meander might suggest an amused rather than a disapproving tone: an old bushman whose anecdotes seemed to meander on without end. More concretely, meander suggests the movement of water: creeks meandering through green paddocks. The word is less often used for travel, although here it can give a tone of amiable idleness: meandering round the city markets to fill in time. When used in the context of travel, ramble , like meander , usually refers to a specific occasion rather than a habitual way of life. It can give a tone of pleasant relaxation, like meander , but is more concrete in suggesting a particular manner of walking, one in which a sauntering gait is linked with a start-and-stop unevenness of speed; We went rambling through the park every weekend; a couple who liked to ramble about the countryside in search of a secluded picnic spot. When used of discourse, the word takes on a negative tone like that of wander , referring specifically to any presentation in language that is lengthy, poorly organized and full of digressions: yawning while his wife rambled on about one trivial grievance after another; an essay that rambles too much to have any persuasive force.

Unlike the previous words, roam and range may both suggest a more serious purpose behind the uneven or circuitous movement.

• He roamed through the island in search of his vanished father; The student’s report ranged through a dozen cultures to cite examples supporting his thesis.

Roam can, like ramble , be used to describe a pleasant stroll : roaming about the hills picking a bunch of wildflowers. The implication of making a thorough search or having some other specific purpose in mind is seldom completely absent, however: roaming about dusty galleries in search of unauthenticated paintings. Roam is furthermore the only word here that is specifically associated with the grazing or foraging activity of horses and other animals: letting his horse roam free so that she could eat her fill of grass. Range implies a thorough or systematic movement over a wide area: His search ranged over three continents and twice took him across the Pacific Ocean. More often it refers to a sorting through or presenting of diverse ideas. More formal than roam , the word also suggest more certainty of purpose, a deliberately various course, and a wide grasp of far-flung materials: books ranging from popular fiction to a learned treatises.

Rove and stray both most readily suggest negative aspects of idle movement. Rove can sometimes indicate the pleasant overtones of meander or ramble ; often it suggests a greater intensity or a more clearly defined goal, but particularly a more fickle attitude towards the experience at hand. As such, the word often suggests a cynical inconstancy in love: always on the go, roving from one woman to another, never satisfied for long; a roving eye. Stray , by contrast, is the one word here that specifically emphasizes someone who has lost his way or inadvertently drifted off-course; with this sense, it can apply in any context, including those that circumscribe other words here: constantly straying from the main point of his talk; to stray from the prescribed route laid down by one’s guide. Like rove , stray may refer to unfaithfulness in love, but more generally the word refers to outright sinfulness of any sort: wives earnestly trying to win back husbands who have strayed ; inevitable that humanity would stray from its ideal standards of conduct.