Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for stan. Search instead for styan.
Showing definitions for stan
SEE ALSO
Slang dictionary results for stan
Jump to:
  • stan
    stan
    noun
    an overly enthusiastic fan, especially of a celebrity.
  • Stan
    Stan
    noun
    a male given name, form of Stanley.
  • -stan
    -stan
    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.

stan

1 American  
[stan] / stæn /

noun

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


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.


-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.


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”; see also stand ( def. )

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.

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

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026

At the end of the day, a real-life stan of a pop star wants the same things that the people in Oliver’s fictional posse do: to have their existence validated by celebrity.

From Salon • Aug. 26, 2025

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

“I would say that my nachos are mine, and I invented them,” she told Entertainment Weekly when asked about a viral stan meme that claims she’s “reheating her own nachos” in the album’s “Abracadabra.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2025

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

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "stan" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com