swoon

[ swoon ]

/ swun /

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See synonyms for: swoon / swooned / swooning on Thesaurus.com

verb (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

a faint or fainting fit; syncope.

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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 aa-¹ + swoon (noun), but probably continuing Old English āswōgen, past participle of āswōgan “to overcome” (see a-³), or geswōgen (past participle) “senseless, dead”

OTHER WORDS FROM swoon

swoon·ing·ly, adverbun·swoon·ing, adjective

Words nearby swoon

swollen head, swollen-headed, swoln, swonk, swonken, swoon, swoop, swoosh, swop, sword, sword bayonet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use swoon in a sentence

On the day he received the call from Burr, Fauth sold between $97,000 and $280,000 worth of shares in six companies — including several that were hit particularly hard in the market swoon and economic downturn.
Burr’s Brother-in-Law Called Stock Broker, One Minute After Getting Off Phone With Senator|by Robert Faturechi|October 28, 2021|ProPublica
Some even see the swoon as a perfectly understandable and necessary correction.
Bitcoin bombs lower, touching the dreaded $30,000 range|Bernhard Warner|January 22, 2021|Fortune
Meanwhile, longtime bulls—some of whom have likened Bitcoin to the indestructible honey badger—are likely to regard the current price swoon as an inevitable correction rather than an existential threat.
Bitcoin tumbles 20% in worst crash since March|Jeff Roberts|January 11, 2021|Fortune
After the initial swoon, the markets climbed, the economy grew, employers continued to hire, and wages nudged up.
Tech futures and the dollar sink as the Georgia vote points to victories for the Democrats|Bernhard Warner|January 6, 2021|Fortune

Later, his turn as a lothario in the box office hit Crazy Stupid Love made him even more swoon-worthy.
Rob Lowe: Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful|Tricia Romano|April 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
More than anything else, teenagers seemed to swoon over tenderness and vulnerability that the Beatles expressed in their songs.
What Made the Beatles So Big? Diagnosing ‘Beatlemania’|John McMillian|October 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Long before he took the stage, the mere mention of his name sent this crowd into a swoon.
Ted’s Excellent Adventure: How Cruz Rocked the Value Voters Summit|Michelle Cottle|October 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Like a verbal snake charmer, he could swoon them into missteps, even confessions.
The Private David Frost|John M. Florescu|September 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Then Dylan McDermott turns around in an FBI vest and a Dirty Harry attitude, and you swoon.
Fall-Winter TV Preview: Snap Judgments of 2013–14’s New Shows|Jace Lacob, Kevin Fallon|July 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I have read that Chinamen tie their wives to beams in the roof and lash them with leather thongs until they swoon.
Dope|Sax Rohmer
On the deck she tottered and fell in the dead swoon of exhaustion.
The Beach of Dreams|H. De Vere Stacpoole
He had fainted and fallen down out of his chair in a deadly swoon.
Margaret of Anjou|Jacob Abbott.
One day after brooding deeply over these matters Laulewasikaw fell upon the earth in a swoon.
Four American Indians|Edson L. Whitney
But he had hardly risen when he pressed his hand upon his heart, and falling back in a swoon was borne home to die.
History of the English People, Volume VIII (of 8)|John Richard Green

British Dictionary definitions for swoon

swoon

/ (swuːn) /

verb (intr)

a literary word for faint

to become ecstatic

noun

an instance of fainting

Also (archaic or dialect): swound

Derived forms of swoon

swooning, adjectiveswooningly, adverb

Word Origin for swoon

Old English geswōgen insensible, past participle of swōgan (unattested except in compounds) to suffocate

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

swoon

Origin of swoon

OTHER WORDS FROM swoon

Words nearby swoon

Words related to swoon

How to use swoon in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for swoon

Derived forms of swoon

Word Origin for swoon