stan

¹ American  

[stan] / stæn /

noun

1. an overly enthusiastic fan, especially of a celebrity.

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verb (used without object)

1. to be an overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something.

   He's my fave rapper but I don't stan for him.

Stan ² American  

[stan] / stæn /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Stanley.

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-stan ³ American  

Sometimes Disparaging.

1. a combining form used humorously to form mock place names, as in Canuckistan, a nickname for Canada, or Nerdistan, any place dominated by high-tech industry and therefore supposedly populated by nerds: sometimes suggesting isolation, backwardness, or lack of freedom.

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Etymology

Origin of stan¹

First recorded in 2005–10; blend of stalk(er) ( def. ) + fan ² ( def. ), influenced by the rapper Eminem's 2000 song “Stan”

Origin of -stan³

First recorded in 1955–60; from Persian -stân “place of (something), place abounding in (something),” akin to Sanskrit sthā́na “location, place”; stand ( def. )

Example Sentences

As a day-one Philly stan, I’m going to say no.

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026

Kristen Baldwin and Tracy Brown, meanwhile stan for less-heralded work: “Look, ‘Landman’ … is a crime against women,” says Baldwin, “but Billy Bob Thornton is objectively excellent.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2025

As a guy who came up in New Jersey’s scrappy punk scene, Antonoff, 40, is perhaps an unlikely Meyers stan.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2024

But younger generations are increasingly motivated by the idea of brand loyalty that comes with being a stan of the global superstars dominating the charts, whether it’s Taylor Swift, BTS, Billie Eilish, or Beyoncé.

From Slate • Jun. 19, 2024

The time to stan worrying about how things worked was when they broke down or fell apart, and not before.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols