as in willing
having a desire or inclination (as for a specified course of action)
during the Renaissance most men of science and the arts were fain to express their noblest thoughts in Latin, the lingua franca of the learned
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in rather
by choice or preference
"I would fain not marry that suitor, my lord," the princess pleaded
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fain
Adjective
-
Kolo Muani produced one of his better performances, willing to get on the ball and run at defenders.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
12 May 2026 -
Suddenly, solutions feel easier to grasp, as people are more willing to compromise and collaborate.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
12 May 2026
Adverb
-
That means viewership around such stuff is smaller, and the networks need to show that ads are reaching not the most people, but rather the most likely people to be interested in a bottle of soda, a specific kind of running shoe, or a new weight-loss drug.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
15 May 2026
-
That’s because the government’s gas tax isn’t collected right at the pump, but rather at the wholesale level.—
Wyatte Grantham-Philips,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
The Sun forms a cazimi with Mercury in Taurus in your 7th House of Partnership, illuminating what both sides need and are ready to offer.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
14 May 2026
-
One part of the mission that remains up in the air is whether or not a version of the lunar spacesuits being developed by Axiom Space will be ready for a test run in space.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 May 2026
Adverb
-
The scheme has been so successful, law enforcement has created a joint FBI-National Security Division task force to disrupt the operations and have dealt a series of harsh prison terms to American accomplices who have willingly aided the North Koreans.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
14 May 2026
-
Part of the experiment involves Mesler willingly extricating himself from Kordansky’s gallery roster.—
Daniel Cassady,
ARTnews.com,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
So glad to see Jacqueline Mathews back.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
14 May 2026
-
The Gators are glad to be along for the ride.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
Most models are usually inclined to speculate answers because simply avoiding answering will motivate the users to question the model’s capabilities.—
Mohamed Suliman,
Boston Herald,
15 May 2026
-
Bloomberg’s sources suggested that Apple was happy to partner with OpenAI as its own AI projects failed to launch but over time became less inclined to boost ChatGPT after learning about OpenAI’s plans to make its own device that could rival the iPhone.—
Jonathan M. Gitlin,
ArsTechnica,
15 May 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Fain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fain. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
