wan

1 of 3

adjective

ˈwän 

wanner; wannest

1

a

: suggestive of poor health : sickly, pallid

b

: lacking vitality : feeble

2

: dim, faint

3

: languid

a wan smile

wanly adverb

wanness

ˈwän-nəs 

noun

wan

2 of 3

verb

wanned; wanning

intransitive verb

: to grow or become pale or sickly

WAN

3 of 3

noun

ˈwan 

: wide area network

Synonyms of wan

Adjective

• pallid
• pale
• paled

Examples of wan in a Sentence

Adjective

She gave a wan laugh.

she looks a little wan after all that tiring work

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

If the land in question has been converted from agricultural fields to golf-course acreage, the net impact of those other factors might actually be lessened, but that’s a wan exculpation. — David Quammen, Outside Online, 2 Mar. 2020

The industrial lagers were flavorless, wan and dilute; craft beer, by contrast, would be rich, complex and delicious. — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 31 Jan. 2020

Noun

Its dual 10 Gbps WAN/LAN ports unlock multi-gigabit fiber connections and high-speed NAS setups, while Multi-Link Operation (MLO) allows devices to use multiple bands simultaneously for ultra-low latency streaming and AR/VR gaming. — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 25 Aug. 2026

Meanwhile, security vendors are moving post-quantum protection from theory into live enterprise security platforms by embedding quantum-safe encryption into secure access service edge (SASE), zero trust, secure web gateways and wide area network (WAN) connectivity. — Michelle Drolet, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Old English wann dark, livid

First Known Use

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1578, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1983, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for wan

• aune
• bon
• bonne
• brawn
• chon
• con
• conn
• crohn
• dawn
• drawn
• fawn
• gone

Kids Definition

wan

adjective

ˈwän

wanner; wannest

1

a

: pale entry 1 sense 1b, sickly

a wan complexion

b

: lacking vitality : feeble

2

: dim entry 1 sense 1, faint

a wan light

3

: showing little effort : languid

a wan smile

wanly adverb

wanness

ˈwän-nəs

noun