Adjacent Words

Wan definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WAN, a. Pale; having a sickly hue; languid of look.
Sad to view, his visage pale and wan.
Why so pale and wan, fond lover?
WAN, for won; pret. of win.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: (of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble; "the pale light of a half moon"; "a pale sun"; "the late afternoon light coming through the el tracks fell in pale oblongs on the street"; "a pallid sky"; "the pale (or wan) stars"; "the wan light of dawn" [syn: pale, pallid, wan, sick]
2: abnormally deficient in color as suggesting physical or emotional distress; "the pallid face of the invalid"; "her wan face suddenly flushed" [syn: pale, pallid, wan]
3: lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness; "a wan smile" n
1: a computer network that spans a wider area than does a local area network [syn: wide area network, WAN] v
1: become pale and sickly

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1983 wide area network

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective (wanner; wannest) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wann dark, livid Date: 14th century 1. a. suggestive of poor health ; sickly, pallid b. lacking vitality ; feeble 2. dim, faint 3. languid <a wan smile> • wanly adverb • wanness noun II. intransitive verb (wanned; wanning) Date: 1578 to grow or become pale or sickly

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of a person's complexion or appearance) pale; exhausted; worn. 2 (of a star etc. or its light) partly obscured; faint. 3 archaic (of night, water, etc.) dark, black. Derivatives: wanly adv. wanness n. Etymology: OE wann dark, black, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wan Wan, obs. imp. of Win. Won. --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wan Wan, a. [AS. wann, wonn, wan, won, dark, lurid, livid, perhaps originally, worn out by toil, from winnan to labor, strive. See Win.] Having a pale or sickly hue; languid of look; pale; pallid. ``Sad to view, his visage pale and wan.'' --Spenser. My color . . . [is] wan and of a leaden hue. --Chaucer. Why so pale and wan, fond lover? --Suckling. With the wan moon overhead. --Longfellow.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wan Wan, n. The quality of being wan; wanness. [R.] Tinged with wan from lack of sleep. --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wan Wan, v. i. To grow wan; to become pale or sickly in looks. ``All his visage wanned.'' --Shak. And ever he mutter'd and madden'd, and ever wann'd with despair. --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Win Win, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Won, Obs. Wan; p. pr. & vb. n. Winning.] [OE. winnen, AS. winnan to strive, labor, fight, endure; akin to OFries. winna, OS. winnan, D. winnen to win, gain, G. gewinnen, OHG. winnan to strive, struggle, Icel. vinna to labor, suffer, win, Dan. vinde to win, Sw. vinna, Goth. winnan to suffer, Skr. van to wish, get, gain, conquer. [root]138. Cf. Venerate, Winsome, Wish, Wont, a.] 1. To gain by superiority in competition or contest; to obtain by victory over competitors or rivals; as, to win the prize in a gate; to win money; to win a battle, or to win a country. ``This city for to win.'' --Chaucer. ``Who thus shall Canaan win.'' --Milton. Thy well-breathed horse Impels the flying car, and wins the course. --Dryden. 2. To allure to kindness; to bring to compliance; to gain or obtain, as by solicitation or courtship. Thy virtue wan me; with virtue preserve me. --Sir P. Sidney. She is a woman; therefore to be won. --Shak. 3. To gain over to one's side or party; to obtain the favor, friendship, or support of; to render friendly or approving; as, to win an enemy; to win a jury. 4. To come to by toil or effort; to reach; to overtake. [Archaic] Even in the porch he him did win. --Spenser. And when the stony path began, By which the naked peak they wan, Up flew the snowy ptarmigan. --Sir W. Scott. 5. (Mining) To extract, as ore or coal. --Raymond. Syn: To gain; get; procure; earn. See Gain.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone as wan, you mean that they look pale and tired. (LITERARY) He looked wan and tired... = washed-out ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Pale, pallid, cadaverous, ashen, colorless, of a sickly hue, haggard. II. v. n. Turn pale, grow pale.

Moby Thesaurus

achromatic, achromic, anemic, apathetic, ashen, ashy, benumbed, blanch, blanched, blase, bleach, bleach out, bleached, bled white, bloodless, blue, bored, cadaverous, change color, chloranemic, colorless, corpselike, dead, deadened, deadly, deadly pale, deathlike, deathly, deathly pale, debilitated, dim, dimmed, dingy, discolored, dopey, dormant, doughy, drab, drawn, droopy, drugged, dull, eerie, emasculate, enervated, etiolated, exanimate, exsanguinated, exsanguine, exsanguineous, fade, fade out, faded, faint, fallow, flat, forceless, ghastly, ghostlike, ghostly, gray, grisly, grow pale, gruesome, haggard, heavy, hebetudinous, hollow-eyed, hueless, hypochromic, impotent, inanimate, ineffective, ineffectual, inert, invertebrate, jaded, lackadaisical, lackluster, languid, languorous, leaden, lethargic, lifeless, listless, livid, lose color, lumpish, lurid, lusterless, macabre, mat, mealy, moribund, mortuary, muddy, neutral, numb, pale, pale as death, pale-faced, pallid, pasty, phlegmatic, pooped, ravaged, sallow, sated, sickly, sleepy, slow, sluggish, somber, somnolent, spineless, stagnant, stagnating, stultified, supine, tallow-faced, tired-eyed, tired-faced, tired-looking, toneless, torpid, turn pale, turn white, uncanny, uncolored, unearthly, vegetable, vegetative, washed-out, waxen, weak, weary, weary-looking, weird, whey-faced, white, whiten, world-weary, worn