swoon
Americanverb (used without object)
-
swoons,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swooned,
past participle, past
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swooning
present participle
-
to faint; lose consciousness.
-
to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy.
The teenagers swooned at the sight of the singing star.
noun
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swoons
plural
verb
-
a literary word for faint
-
to become ecstatic
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swoonsimple
-
swoonssimple
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have swoonedperfect
-
has swoonedperfect
-
am swooningprogressive
-
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 swoon in stocks highlighted the close linkages between the economy, markets and a relatively small group of technology highfliers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Under cross-examination by Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, it was put to Dobson that in his witness statement he said that Russell Brand was one of few men he knew that women would swoon over.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Some spot Franklin and Nigel and smile and swoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Investors have brushed past the Iran war and a summer tech-stock swoon to keep pushing the stock market higher, but something has to give, and it probably will this autumn.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
I’d lock up the bar, make myself a double Singapore Sling, settle down with a paper fan and practically swoon with grief.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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
Meanwhile, Craig swoons over Austin, a local weatherman whose hang-out ideas — mushroom harvesting, urban spelunking, starting a punk rock garage band — give Craig genuine joy.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 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
Within about 10 days the S&P 500 had shed nearly 14% as stocks swooned following the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement at the start of April.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
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
The company’s shares have swooned since the Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2025
Fans of "Girls Gone Bible" swooned in the comments on YouTube over Halili and Reitsma's professions of Christian humility.
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2025
When I lifted my face from the book I swooned and said dreamily, “Ahhh, that was a good one. Now you do it.”
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
Over five books, it grows into a sprawling story of war, power and morally ambiguous immortals, in a formula that leaves its audience of mostly young women swooning.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
While we were swooning over “WandaVision” back in 2021, we couldn’t have known Marvel was softening us up for the AI revolution.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
“One Man” is a gorgeous slice of baroque pop, with acoustic guitar and a string quartet, and on the swooning ballad “Where Is Gone?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
It didn’t hurt that Smith gave the performance of a lifetime, putting her heart and soul into the melodramatic contradictions of the character, antagonizing Arnold one second and swooning over him the next.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
He’ll sit up and make a joke about eating too much pasta or swooning too hard over Anderson Cooper, and ask if I want to go get a late-night milk shake with him.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
