Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

wan

1 American  
[won] / wɒn /

adjective

wanner, wannest

  1. of an unnatural or sickly pallor; pallid; lacking color.

    His wan face suddenly flushed.
    Synonyms:
    ashen
    Antonyms:
    ruddy

  2. showing or suggesting ill health, fatigue, unhappiness, etc..

    a wan look; a wan smile.

  3. lacking in forcefulness, competence, or effectiveness.

    their wan attempts to organize the alumni.
    Synonyms:
    limp, ineffectual, halfhearted, weak, feeble

  4. Archaic.

    1. dark or gloomy.

    2. pale in color or hue.

verb (used with or without object)

wanned, wanning

  1. to become or make wan.

wan 2 American  
[wahn] / wɑn /

verb

Obsolete.

  1. a simple past tense of win.

WAN 3 American  
[wan] / wæn /

noun

  1. wide-area network.

wan 1 British  
/ wɒn /

adjective

  1. unnaturally pale esp from sickness, grief, etc

  2. characteristic or suggestive of ill health, unhappiness, etc

  3. (of light, stars, etc) faint or dim

"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

verb

  1. to make or become wan

"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
WAN 2 British  

abbreviation

  1. wide area network

  2. Nigeria (international car registration)

"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
WAN Scientific  
/ wăn /

  1. Short for wide area network. A communications network that uses such devices as telephone lines, satellite dishes, or radio waves to span a larger geographic area than can be covered by a LAN. The Internet is a WAN.

Related Words

See pale 1.

Other Word Forms

  • wanly adverb
  • wanness noun

Etymology

Origin of wan

before 900; Middle English; Old English wann dark, gloomy

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.

The sun came up, a wan wintry sun that did not warm.

From Literature

My father came out of the shed huddled up in his parka and turned away from the sea, blinking in the wan light, smiling a wan smile.

From Literature

For each of those successes, there are several messy misfires: The wan camp of “The Politician.”

From Salon

Molly burst through the door, half carrying a wan and gaunt Anat, who was struggling to stay upright.

From Literature

Our mother did reappear, looking wan and smiling bravely, and we had to pretend that she was fine.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.