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
-
Infrastructure investors are increasingly willing to put near-term profits as a secondary consideration to redundancy and security, Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli told me.—
Tim McDonnell,
semafor.com,
14 Apr. 2026 -
French President Emmanuel Macron and British prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a conference Friday for nations willing to deploy warships to escort oil tankers and container ships through the Strait of Hormuz.—
Munir Ahmed,
Fortune,
14 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Meta suggested that Kaley’s mental-health struggles were attributable not to social-media addiction but, rather, to her mother’s emotional and physical abuse and neglect, and that Kaley’s social-media use was not the source of her troubles but a way to cope with them.—
Jeannie Suk Gersen,
New Yorker,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Showing an new indie film in theaters rather than taking the more common route of going directly to a streaming service or video on demand or even the regional film festival circuit is a rather radical move these days.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Leslie Hasselback Adams, USA high diving performance director, said Fort Lauderdale has all the elements—wind and sun—to get competitors ready for the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in two years.—
Joan Murray,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
When ready to serve, turn the jar upside down and let sit for 2 minutes so the dressing evenly coats the salad.—
Kelly McCarthy,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Built around a tailor’s dummy, the work represents a population remade, perhaps too willingly, from an object of warfare into a tool of commodity production.—
Shanti Escalante-De Mattei,
ARTnews.com,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Officers said the girl and her mother willingly got into the man's car.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The whole Beaulieu family is glad to have their horse of nearly 20 years back home.—
Madeline King,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
-
But more importantly, the Sabres were glad to get whatever had been ailing them out of their system.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Garrison wasn’t inclined to take this offer.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Finding harmony in dual pursuits Miller, who originally got to know Mattei by playing for his Mile Hi Magic club, grew up in a musically inclined household.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
13 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Fain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fain. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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