wan

C2 Topic:Mind & Cognition

US /wɑn/ UK /wɒn/ See IPA manual

Freq #9612

Meanings

1

adj
lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness

A wan smile.
2

adj
Pale, sickly-looking.

Whome when his Lady ſaw, to him ſhe ran / With haſty ioy : to ſee him made her glad, / And ſad to view his viſage pale and wan, / Who earſt in flowres of freſhest youth was clad.
3

adj
Dim, faint.

’Twas so far away, that evil day when I prayed the Prince of Gloom / For the savage strength and the sullen length of life to work his doom. / Nor sign nor word had I seen or heard, and it happed so long ago; / My youth was gone and my memory wan, and I willed it even so.
4

adj
Bland, uninterested.

A wan expression.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · pale, sickly-looking. ashenashen-facedashyblakeblanchedbleak bloodless chalky

3 adj · dim, faint. bland colourless dim dingy dull dun faint lackluster

4 adj · bland, uninterested. banal basic beat blah bland boring cold colourless

Word family

Forms wann’d

Derived forms cubewanowanlywannesswanthrivenwanwood

Etymology

From Middle English wan, wanne (“grey, leaden; pale grey, ashen; blue-black (like a bruise); dim, faint; dark, gloomy”), from Old English wann (“dark, dusky”), from Proto-Germanic *wannaz (“dark, swart”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Frisian wann, wonn (“dark”).

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# wan

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /wɑn/
**IPA (UK):** /wɒn/
**Frequency rank:** 9612

## Meanings
1. lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness
2. Pale, sickly-looking.
3. Dim, faint.
4. Bland, uninterested.

## Examples
- A wan smile.
- Whome when his Lady ſaw, to him ſhe ran / With haſty ioy : to ſee him made her glad, / And ſad to view his viſage pale and wan, / Who earſt in flowres of freſhest youth was clad.
- ’Twas so far away, that evil day when I prayed the Prince of Gloom / For the savage strength and the sullen length of life to work his doom. / Nor sign nor word had I seen or heard, and it happed so long ago; / My youth was gone and my memory wan, and I willed it even so.
- A wan expression.

## Derived Forms
- cubewano
- wanly
- wanness
- wanthriven
- wanwood

## Etymology
From Middle English wan, wanne (“grey, leaden; pale grey, ashen; blue-black (like a bruise); dim, faint; dark, gloomy”), from Old English wann (“dark, dusky”), from Proto-Germanic *wannaz (“dark, swart”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Frisian wann, wonn (“dark”).

## Topics
- Mind & Cognition

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wan

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