fawn

verb \ ˈfȯn , ˈfän \

|Updated on: 23 Jun 2018

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Examples: fawn in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of fawn

fawned; fawning; fawns

intransitive verb

1 : to court favor by a cringing or flattering manner

courtiers fawning on the king

2 : to show affection —used especially of a dog

The dog was fawning on its master.

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fawner

noun

See fawn defined for English-language learners

See fawn defined for kids

fawn was our Word of the Day on 06/16/2013. Hear the podcast!

Examples of fawn in a Sentence

a sports star surrounded by fawning fans
a student who could not wait to fawn over the new teacher

Recent Examples of fawn from the Web

The tattoos, the ring, the social media fawning: this feels less like the behavior of a brand new couple and more like the behavior of a couple who has finally been allowed to brag about their relationship.

— kathryn lindsay, refinery29.com, "I'm A Pete Davidson & Ariana Grande Truther," 13 June 2018
Other previously-unseen visuals included footage of Beyoncé and JAY-Z spending quality time with Blue, traveling together, and fawning over their new children at home.

— erica gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Beyoncé and JAY-Z Appear to Renew Their Vows in On the Run Tour Footage," 7 June 2018
In a lot of ways, Jeffress is the ideal selection for the Trump administration, and not just because he's been enthusiastically fawning over and defending the president since the election.

— luke darby, GQ, "The Pastor Trump Chose to Open the New Jerusalem Embassy Is an Anti-Muslim Troll," 14 May 2018
Musk then turned over questioning to YouTuber Galileo Russell, a fanboy investor who has published several fawning videos about Musk and Tesla.

— adrienne lafrance, The Atlantic, "Elon Musk Should Know Better," 29 May 2018
The judges fawned over Harding, buying into the redemption tour which started with the movie about her life I, Tonya.

— thomas o'toole, USA TODAY, "How Olympian Adam Rippon won 'Dancing with the Stars' beating Tonya Harding, Josh Norman," 21 May 2018
East Texas, which saw significant loss of fawns over the past couple of summers because of severe flooding in river bottoms during fawning season, should see good fawn production and, if summer doesn’t throw any curves, good survival.

— shannon tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "Texas summer a key factor in wildlife cycle," 17 May 2018
In Silicon Valley, there are famous C.E.O.s, men and women who are idolized by the masses and fawned over by the tech press, and then there is Elon Musk.

— nick bilton, The Hive, "“Untethered from Reality”: Is Elon Musk Having His Kanye West Moment?," 11 May 2018
While Bieber doesn't mention the Met Gala by name, the event has pretty much dominated social media, with everyone who was there posting photos from it, and everyone who wasn't fawning over them.

— kathryn lindsay, refinery29.com, "Justin Bieber Calls Out The Superficial Met Gala Via Notes App," 8 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fawn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Some people will be glad to learn the origins of "fawn"-and there's a hint about the word's etymology in that declaration. Middle English speakers adapted an Old English word meaning "to rejoice" to create the verb "faunen," which shifted in spelling over time to become "fawn." That Old English word, in turn, derives from fagan, meaning "glad." "Fagan" is also an ancestor of the English adjective "fain," whose earliest (now obsolete) meaning is "happy" or "pleased." If we follow the etymological path of "fawn" even further back, we arrive at an ancient word that also provided Old German and Old Norse with words for "happy."

Origin and Etymology of fawn

Middle English faunen, from Old English fagnian to rejoice, from fægen, fagan glad — more at fain

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

fawn Synonyms

Phrases

curry favor, kiss up to;

Synonym Discussion of fawn

fawn, toady, truckle, cringe, cower mean to behave abjectly before a superior. fawn implies seeking favor by servile flattery or exaggerated attention.

- waiters fawning over a celebrity

toady suggests the attempt to ingratiate oneself by an abjectly menial or subservient attitude.

- toadying to his boss

truckle implies the subordination of oneself and one's desires or judgment to those of a superior.

- truckling to a powerful lobbyist

cringe suggests a bowing or shrinking in fear or servility.

- a cringing sycophant

cower suggests a display of abject fear in the company of threatening or domineering people.

- cowering before a bully

fawn

noun

Definition of fawn

1 : a young deer; especially : one still unweaned or retaining a distinctive baby coat

2 : kid 2

3 : a light grayish brown

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fawny

play \ˈfȯ-nē, ˈfä-\ adjective

See fawn defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of fawn from the Web

Thanks to the Game Warden, this fawn has a second chance at life.

— meghan overdeep, Southern Living, "Hero Oklahoma Game Warden Rushes to Save Unborn Fawn After Mother Was Hit by Car," 11 June 2018
One of two fawn survived and was taken into the care of animal control.

— crimesider staff, CBS News, "N.J. cop delivers fawn in roadside C-section on deer killed by car," 21 May 2018
But the little fawn ... just couldn't do it any more.

— joel shannon, USA TODAY, "Seemingly overwhelmed fawn needs a little help from mom to cross the road," 1 June 2018
The doe died but was delivered of a fawn, which Minuth wrapped in a towel and placed in his squad car, the post said.

— rafael guerrero, Naperville Sun, "Orphaned newborn deer rescued by Naperville police, animal control," 31 May 2018
David Crane via Storyful Melissa Lehmberg took this video of a fawn that was trapped between the balusters of a bridge on Daufuskie Island after flood waters from Hurricane Irma receded.

— mark price, charlotteobserver, "Woman finds a deer trapped in a neighborhood storm drain. How it got there is weird. | Charlotte Observer," 24 May 2018
The fawn was born on April 2 at Hamill Family Wild Encounters and is nursing, walking, running and doing great!

— jamie ramsay, Chicago Reader, "These photos of moms and their babies are cuter than any family picture you'll take on Mother's Day," 12 May 2018
The Washington Township Police Department posted a photo of Officer Jim Vernon holding the fawn moments after performing an emergency c-section on baby's deceased mother.

— crimesider staff, CBS News, "N.J. cop delivers fawn in roadside C-section on deer killed by car," 21 May 2018
Overall, this should be an average year for fawn production in most of the state.

— shannon tompkins staff writer, San Antonio Express-News, "Texas summer key factor in wildlife cycle," 17 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of fawn

Middle English foun, from Anglo-French feun, foon young of an animal, from Vulgar Latin *feton-, feto, from Latin fetus offspring — more at fetus

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year