wan

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /wɑn/ UK /wɒn/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like one /ʌ/ vs /ɑ/

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

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

wan smile
a faint smile that suggests tiredness, illness, or unhappiness

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Wan comes from Old English, in which it meant “dark” or “black” but could also describe an unhealthy complexion. By about 1250 the latter sense could mean “pale from illness” or “sickly,” and this notion of unhealthiness may have provided the connection with “pale.” By late Middle English, people could be described as “pale and wan.”

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

Describing Qualities

External links

# 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
- Describing Qualities

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wan