swain
Americannoun
-
a male admirer or lover.
-
a country lad.
-
a country gallant.
noun
-
a male lover or admirer
-
a country youth
Other Word Forms
- swainish adjective
- swainishness noun
- underswain noun
Etymology
Origin of swain
before 1150; Middle English swein servant < Old Norse sveinn boy, servant; cognate with Old English swān
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.
Like a handsome but withholding swain, Elba draws us back to “Luther” time and again.
From Salon • Jun. 1, 2019
Hopeful swain Melchor moves to L.A. to meet his online love, Magdalena, for the first time, only to fall in love with a mysterious masked woman — unaware that she is Magdalena in disguise.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 22, 2018
The next day, Ms. Brown was happy to find out that her new swain had a master’s degree from Harvard and was, like her, Jewish.
From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2018
A crush on warfare was one, with Roosevelt the most besotted swain of all.
From Washington Post • Jan. 27, 2017
Jackson moves over to Katherine and bows over her hand like a true swain, murmuring pleasantries.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
