wan

¹

[won]

adjective

wanner, wannest 

1. of an unnatural or sickly pallor; pallid; lacking color.

   His wan face suddenly flushed.

   Synonyms: ashen
   Antonyms: ruddy

2. showing or suggesting ill health, fatigue, unhappiness, etc..

   a wan look; a wan smile.

3. lacking in forcefulness, competence, or effectiveness.

   their wan attempts to organize the alumni.

   Synonyms: limp, ineffectual, halfhearted, weak, feeble

4. Archaic.

   1. dark or gloomy.

   2. pale in color or hue.

verb (used with or without object)

wanned, wanning 

1. to become or make wan.

wan

²

[wahn]

verb

Obsolete.

1. a simple past tense of win.

WAN

³

[wan]

noun

1. wide-area network.

wan

¹

/ wɒn /

adjective

1. unnaturally pale esp from sickness, grief, etc

2. characteristic or suggestive of ill health, unhappiness, etc

3. (of light, stars, etc) faint or dim

verb

1. to make or become wan

WAN

²

abbreviation

1. wide area network

2. Nigeria (international car registration)

WAN

1. Short for wide area network. A communications network that uses such devices as telephone lines, satellite dishes, or radio waves to span a larger geographic area than can be covered by a LAN. The Internet is a WAN.

Other Word Forms

• wanly adverb
• wanness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wan¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English wann dark, gloomy

Word History and Origins

Origin of wan¹

Old English wann dark; related to wanian to _wane

Origin of wan²

From W(est) A(frica) N(igeria)

Synonym Study

See pale ¹.

Example Sentences

Our mother did reappear, looking wan and smiling bravely, and we had to pretend that she was fine.

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“We watched them install it one night. It’s not like they talk to us or ask us for permission,” he said, a wan smile on his face.

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“Our ultimate dream was to eat our favorite food before we died. One neighbor, I remember, he was craving a French fry — just one,” Ayoub said, a wan smile on his face at the memory.

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Place a serpentine sofa in the middle of a room and you’ll instantly transform it from wan white box to theater-worthy.

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With “Wickedest,” a boisterous album highlight, she laments that “Everybody want to lie, they want to fight, they want to get me / Thеy wan’ kill me … When they really don’t know me.”

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