fain
willing: They were fain to go.
Archaic. constrained; obliged: He was fain to obey his Lord.
Archaic. glad; pleased.
Archaic. desirous; eager.
Origin of fain
1Words that may be confused with fain
Words Nearby fain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fain in a sentence
Video cameraman Scott fain, 54, likes what he hears at the event.
Two Jews, One Congressional Seat: Howard Berman vs. Brad Sherman | Andrew Murr | June 3, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTRichard would fain have moralised and comforted, but she felt as if she knew it all before, and heard with languid attention.
The Daisy Chain | Charlotte YongeI am a poor fellow, sir; that shall be a longtime getting rich, and would fain not die till I am so.
The Battle of Hexham; | George ColmanI longed to hear her and to see her always; I would have died in rapture at her side, but I was never fain to wed her.
Marguerite | Anatole FranceThe incident recalled was one that he would fain have forgotten, one the truth of which he intended at all hazards to conceal.
The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le Queux
There is an obvious allusion in this line to the common proverb—'As fain as fowl of a fair morrow,' which is quoted in the Kn.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems | Geoffrey Chaucer
British Dictionary definitions for fain
/ (feɪn) /
(usually with would) archaic willingly; gladly: she would fain be dead
obsolete
willing or eager
compelled
Origin of fain
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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