English Explanatory Dictionary

wan

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Pale, sickly-looking.
  2. Dim, faint.
  3. Bland, uninterested.
noun
  1. The quality of being wan; wanness.
noun
  1. Pronunciation spelling of one, representing Ireland and Glasgow English.
  2. A girl or woman.
verb
  1. simple past of win.
noun
  1. Acronym of wide area network.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/wɒn/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wan.wav /wɑn/ /wæn/

Word forms

wan wanner wannest wans

Etymology

From Middle English wan, wanne (“grey, leaden; pale grey, ashen; blue-black (like a bruise); dim, faint; dark, gloomy”), from Old English wann (“dark, dusky”), from Proto-Germanic *wannaz (“dark, swart”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Frisian wann, wonn (“dark”).

Synonyms

ashen pasty ashen-faced ashy blake blanched bleak bloodless chalky exsanguious ghastly grey livid pale pallid sallow wan washed out white whey-faced dull dun leaden uncolorful bland colourless dim dingy faint lackluster muddy sad sober unholiday insipid banal basic beat blah boring cold corny drab stuffy dreich drowsy dull as dishwater flat heavy going ho-hum humdrum lame languid lifeless longsome monotonous mundane no fun at parties plain plodding

Antonyms

colorful colorific coloury aurora-colored (US) / aurora-coloured colorful (US) / colourful discolored [⇒ thesaurus] (US obsolete) / discoloured kaleidoscopic many-coloured motley multichromatic multicolor (US) / multicolour multicolored (US) / multicoloured multicolorous multihued particolored (US) / particoloured polychromate polychromatic polychromed polyhued prismatic rainbow rainbow-colored (US) / rainbow-coloured tissued variegated

Related words

Internet LAN network

Derived words

green and wan wanly wanness wanthriven wanwood cubewano
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