swoon
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to faint; lose consciousness.
-
to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy.
The teenagers swooned at the sight of the singing star.
noun
verb
-
a literary word for faint
-
to become ecstatic
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swoonsimple
-
swoonssimple
-
have swoonedperfect
-
has swoonedperfect
-
am swooningprogressive
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are swooningprogressive
-
is swooningprogressive
-
have been swooningperfect progressive
-
has been swooningperfect progressive
Past
-
swoonedsimple
-
had swoonedperfect
-
was swooningprogressive
-
were swooningprogressive
-
had been swooningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swoon
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (verb) swo(w)nen “to faint,” originally as gerund swowening, swoghning “act of swooning,” ultimately continuing Old English -swōgan (in compounds) “to rush, overrun, choke”; Middle English (noun) partly derivative of the verb, partly extracted from in (a) swoune, on swoune, alteration of a swoune, aswoune “in a swoon,” as if equivalent to a a- 1 + swoon (noun), but probably continuing Old English āswōgen, past participle of āswōgan “to overcome” ( a- 3 ), or geswōgen (past participle) “senseless, dead”
Explanation
To swoon is to faint, due to lack of blood to the brain. Illness, fear, stress, and even happiness can cause people to swoon. Swoon is an old-fashioned way to say "pass out": back in the day, ladies in corsets were always swooning at the slightest stress or smallest nod from a handsome man. Although this word technically means "to faint," today it has more of a positive connotation and isn't used so literally — people say they swoon when they encounter something so wonderful it makes them dizzy with joy. Chocolate cupcakes, the perfect dress, or a stellar home run could make you swoon.
Vocabulary lists containing swoon
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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.
See Examples For:
The death of his wife, Martha, in 1782, when she was only 33, so devastated him that for weeks the sight of their children, now motherless, made him swoon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
A summer swoon for tech stocks may be taking hold, as another bumpy ride looms Tuesday after South Korea’s red-hot stock market slumped 10%.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
There was a collective swoon when news came through on Thursday that McTominay, the totem, had an iffy tummy, but he's good now.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Palantir stock has tumbled 14% this year as of Tuesday’s close of trading, stalling as part of a software swoon after surging triple digits each of the last three years.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
Esperanza faked a swoon back into her seat.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Occasionally Mr. Paul’s violin swoons and shrieks in a manner we associate with the instrument, but he’s just as likely to use it as a starting point for an electronic drone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
However, with strong earnings providing fundamental support, those swoons are likely to be the exception rather than the norm.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Everybody swoons when they put four and five on weaker teams.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2025
The soundtrack swoons with the ’60s pop ballad “I Will Follow Him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they rethought the whole show once America swoons over Cha-Cha the chow chow.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
None of this was good news, but if investors were on board with the long-term prospects of the neocloud, the stock wouldn’t have swooned so hard.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
Pessimists recalled the last time New Yorkers swooned over a charismatic mayoral candidate who inspired the young and promised a new era: John Lindsay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Jason then joked that maybe he should leave, and give them some privacy, as Swift swooned.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2025
Soon after, he threw out the first pitch in the third game of the World Series at Yankee Stadium and the media swooned over his perfect delivery.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2024
Lonna had swooned for the cameras as he wriggled out of the burrow.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
The crowd at the Indio festival, for instance, went wild for the puppets swooning to Ben Platt’s cover of Addison Rae’s hit tune “Diet Pepsi.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
Far from swooning as she is clearly expected to do, Bessette banters tartly and refuses to give him her number.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
Were this another sport—football, basketball, baseball—they’d be swooning over Alcaraz as an all timer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
When Bowie briefly takes Connelly’s hand for the briefest one-two-three, one-two-three, imagining millions of hearts swooning in concert isn’t hard to do.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
She opened her arms for Lefty, who twisted around, chafing his knees and elbows, dislodging oars, nearly setting off a flare, until finally he fell into her softness, swooning.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
