variants
or less commonly savannah
1
: a treeless plain especially in Florida
2
a
: a tropical or subtropical grassland (as of eastern Africa or northern South America) containing scattered trees and drought-resistant undergrowth
b
: a temperate grassland with scattered trees (such as oaks)
Synonyms
Examples of savanna in a Sentence
lions roaming the savanna
Recent Examples on the Web
The natural waterway, which slices through the vast savanna in Queen Elizabeth National Park, is home to concentrations of the toothy mammal.
—
Alexandra Owens, AFAR Media, 10 Feb. 2025
Whether in the misty forests of Costa Rica, the savannas of Kenya, or the rugged Highlands of Scotland, this new model of travel offers more than a vacation.
—Ashlee Marie Preston, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
Thousands of years ago, southern Wisconsin transitioned from a closed-canopy oak forest to an oak savanna—in an open prairie, oaks, instead of growing straight and tall, branch too early for canoe-making.
—Jacqueline Kehoe, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Dec. 2024
Nietzsche’s genealogy, needless to say, was a more impressionistic affair, and didn’t reach back to any evolutionary savanna.
—Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for savanna 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Alexandra Owens, AFAR Media, 10 Feb. 2025
Whether in the misty forests of Costa Rica, the savannas of Kenya, or the rugged Highlands of Scotland, this new model of travel offers more than a vacation.
—Ashlee Marie Preston, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
Thousands of years ago, southern Wisconsin transitioned from a closed-canopy oak forest to an oak savanna—in an open prairie, oaks, instead of growing straight and tall, branch too early for canoe-making.
—Jacqueline Kehoe, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Dec. 2024
Nietzsche’s genealogy, needless to say, was a more impressionistic affair, and didn’t reach back to any evolutionary savanna.
—Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for savanna
Dictionary Entries Near savanna
Cite this Entry
“Savanna.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/savanna. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
savanna
noun
sa·van·na
variants
also savannah
: a grassland (as of eastern Africa or northern South America) containing scattered trees
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share