swoon

American  

[swoon] / swun /

verb (used without object)

1. to faint; lose consciousness.

2. to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy.

   The teenagers swooned at the sight of the singing star.

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noun

1. a faint or fainting fit; syncope.

swoon British  

/ swuːn /

verb

1. a literary word for faint

2. to become ecstatic

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noun

1. an instance of fainting

Other Word Forms

• swooning adjective
• swooningly adverb
• unswooning adjective

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”

Example Sentences

Debbie Horsfield, who made millions swoon with “Poldark” before taking on this adaptation for PBS, recognizes the place that “The Forsyte Saga” holds in TV history.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

The psychology of this team is something that would make Sigmund Freud swoon.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

I have enjoyed the caustic verve of this Claude.ai promotional campaign, which seems to be heading off the inevitable swoon of the A.I. revolution before it firmly takes hold.

From Slate • Feb. 8, 2026

Moments earlier, his company, which stockpiles bitcoin, had reported a $12 billion quarterly loss related to the token’s late-2025 swoon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026

A Tennyson garden, heavy with scent, languid; the return of the word swoon.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

• pass out