of an unnatural or sickly pallor; pallid; lacking color.
His wan face suddenly flushed.
showing or suggesting ill health, fatigue, unhappiness, etc..
a wan look; a wan smile.
lacking in forcefulness, competence, or effectiveness.
their wan attempts to organize the alumni.
Archaic.
dark or gloomy.
pale in color or hue.
unnaturally pale esp from sickness, grief, etc
characteristic or suggestive of ill health, unhappiness, etc
(of light, stars, etc) faint or dim
wide area network
Nigeria (international car registration)
See pale 1.
before 900; Middle English; Old English wann dark, gloomy
Someone who is wan is visibly unwell and lacking in energy. If you’ve had the flu for over a week, and you finally get out of bed looking pale and tired, your mother might say that you look wan. When your aunt comes to dinner and eats three helpings of dessert, she might seem a little wan as she drinks her tea, meaning she looks sickly and weak — and no wonder, after so many slices of pie! Wan can also describe a fading light — one that is sickly and weak, just like your aunt. When the light bulb in the living room burns out and leaves only wan twilight filtering in, you’ll find it impossible to read.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Our mother did reappear, looking wan and smiling bravely, and we had to pretend that she was fine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 2, 2025
Without shelter from the larger shrubs, they were vulnerable during the severe heat, said Brenda Contreras, director of the native plant and wildlife support group Coyotl wan Macehualli.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2024
If you were not eating meat in the 1990s and early 2000s, you might harbor painful memories of the wan, wet vegan dogs of yesteryear.
From Salon • Apr. 16, 2024
But this show is too slight, too wan, to bear the weight of analytical dissection.
From New York Times • Feb. 15, 2024
Between that, studying for her classes, and the unusually long, wet winter, she had grown wan and pale and sometimes depressed, so she luxuriated in the fresh air and bright sunlight on the ferry.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
