swoon
Americanverb (used without object)
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swoons,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swooned,
past participle, past
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swooning
present participle
-
to faint; lose consciousness.
-
to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy.
The teenagers swooned at the sight of the singing star.
noun
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swoons
plural
verb
-
a literary word for faint
-
to become ecstatic
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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swoonsimple
-
swoonssimple
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have swoonedperfect
-
has swoonedperfect
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am swooningprogressive
-
are swooningprogressive
-
is swooningprogressive
-
have been swooningperfect progressive
-
has been swooningperfect progressive
Past
-
swoonedsimple
-
had swoonedperfect
-
was swooningprogressive
-
were swooningprogressive
-
had been swooningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swoon
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (verb) swo(w)nen “to faint,” originally as gerund swowening, swoghning “act of swooning,” ultimately continuing Old English -swōgan (in compounds) “to rush, overrun, choke”; Middle English (noun) partly derivative of the verb, partly extracted from in (a) swoune, on swoune, alteration of a swoune, aswoune “in a swoon,” as if equivalent to a a- 1 + swoon (noun), but probably continuing Old English āswōgen, past participle of āswōgan “to overcome” ( a- 3 ), or geswōgen (past participle) “senseless, dead”
Explanation
To swoon is to faint, due to lack of blood to the brain. Illness, fear, stress, and even happiness can cause people to swoon. Swoon is an old-fashioned way to say "pass out": back in the day, ladies in corsets were always swooning at the slightest stress or smallest nod from a handsome man. Although this word technically means "to faint," today it has more of a positive connotation and isn't used so literally — people say they swoon when they encounter something so wonderful it makes them dizzy with joy. Chocolate cupcakes, the perfect dress, or a stellar home run could make you swoon.
Vocabulary lists containing swoon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some spot Franklin and Nigel and smile and swoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
And even though levels of leverage in certain corners of the market have ebbed from their peak levels seen shortly before July’s artificial-intelligence swoon, risks remain.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 30, 2026
There was a collective swoon when news came through on Thursday that McTominay, the totem, had an iffy tummy, but he's good now.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Technology stocks tumbled on Tuesday, extending a swoon that began in early June, as investors anxiously await the historic SpaceX IPO later this week and retreat from hot parts of the AI playbook.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
I’d lock up the bar, make myself a double Singapore Sling, settle down with a paper fan and practically swoon with grief.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Occasionally Mr. Paul’s violin swoons and shrieks in a manner we associate with the instrument, but he’s just as likely to use it as a starting point for an electronic drone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
However, with strong earnings providing fundamental support, those swoons are likely to be the exception rather than the norm.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Everybody swoons when they put four and five on weaker teams.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2025
The soundtrack swoons with the ’60s pop ballad “I Will Follow Him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they rethought the whole show once America swoons over Cha-Cha the chow chow.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” arrived smack in the middle of the most prestigious stretch of television’s modern Golden Age, when audiences swooned over “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men.”
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2025
None of this was good news, but if investors were on board with the long-term prospects of the neocloud, the stock wouldn’t have swooned so hard.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
The company’s shares have swooned since the Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2025
Jason then joked that maybe he should leave, and give them some privacy, as Swift swooned.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2025
It was so kindly an expression that Dr. Cooper’s dæmon shivered and swooned against his breast.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
You haven't seen such swooning since the golden age of the Hollywood diva.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Last week, I was swooning over a Pinterest living room before I spotted the disclaimer: AI-modified.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
His earliest musical influences were the swooning Motown singers of the ‘50s and ‘60s, including Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2026
When Bowie briefly takes Connelly’s hand for the briefest one-two-three, one-two-three, imagining millions of hearts swooning in concert isn’t hard to do.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
He’ll sit up and make a joke about eating too much pasta or swooning too hard over Anderson Cooper, and ask if I want to go get a late-night milk shake with him.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
