1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

swain

noun

ˈswān How to pronounce swain (audio)
Definition of swainnext
1
as in boyfriend
a male romantic companion a romanticized portrait of a bygone era of beauteous Southern belles and their gallant swains

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in lover
a man who courts a woman usually with the goal of marrying her Grandma claims that she had several swains pursuing her, but it was only Grandpa who won her heart

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of swain Justyn Gonzalez and Alexandra Young share enjoyable comedy charm as a fumbling swain and the snappy-retorting object of his affections. — Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 12 May 2026 Between the romantic fantasy of Anna and her two swains, the swoony Tuscan locales bathed in creamy golden light, and the tomatoes, You, Me & Tuscany delivers everything its title promises. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 10 Apr. 2026 As the two lovers, Robin Wright as the comely princess and Cary Elwes as her loving swain are engaging and appealing. — Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025 But in the new film, the unnamed swain has been replaced by a Robin Hood-style heartthrob named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who leads a defiant group of bandits that steals from the monarchy and gives to the poor. — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2025 Science emerges as a version of the pastoral, with the physicist as swain. — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024 Odette is a shape-shifter, from woman to swan, under sorcerer Rothbart’s spell, only to be broken when a swain pledges true love to her—Siegfried to the rescue. — Guillermo Perez, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swain
  1. boyfriend
  2. lover
  3. beau
  4. suitor
  5. boy
  6. fellow
  7. man
Noun
  • The movie’s antihero, Doug (Will Brill), is a middle school theater teacher plotting his revenge against his ex-girlfriend Abigail (Gillian Jacobs), also a teacher — and her new boyfriend, the more charming Principal Brady (Rob Lowe).
    — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Her father, Skip Panettiere, is on the guest list as are a handful of Hollywood heavyweights and celebrities, though her mom, Lesley Vogel, her former boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were not invited, per TMZ.
    — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of boyfriend
Noun
  • The photographic record shows Wong arm-in-arm with numerous admirers, many of whom were her lovers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Llínas mugs the camera for laugh lines in the narration, rattles off a comically long list of Borges’ lovers, reveals halfway through that the score has been played, in part, off a toy xylophone.
    — Sam Bodrojan, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of lover
Noun
  • Ask your beau to fasten it behind your neck; rubies, after all, are oh-so-romantic.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Season 5 ended on a cliffhanger for Emily and Gabriel — adrift on a yacht off the shores of Greece — while Mindy finds herself in a love triangle with Nico (Park's real-life former beau Paul Forman) and Alfie (Lucien Laviscount).
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of beau
Noun
  • The action then jumps back four months to show the events the series portrays as leading up to the murders, beginning with Lizzie’s first meeting with a prospective suitor.
    — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Twenty years later, Elizabeth (Roden) is spending Christmas at Biltmore, this time accompanied by James (Trevena), a suitor her Aunt Maysilee (MacDowell), is keen for her to wed.
    — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of suitor
Noun
  • Brody Drewes shot 68 (-4) to help Lake Minneola boys golf edge Eustis by one stroke to win the West Orange Invitational.
    — Steve Gorches, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Even though the Longs have no more boys arriving at La Serna, there’s a sister who will be freshman next year at La Serna.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of boy
Noun
  • His fellow Beatle blew everyone away with his North American run last fall, too.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2026
  • He has been married to fellow actor and frequent collaborator Clare Grant since May 2010.
    — Kate Hogan, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of fellow
Noun
  • For the first few days, they were held in a room crammed with up to 80 men, with just a handful of open toilets, in frigid conditions and with only a thin towel to sleep under, before being moved to two-person cells.
    — Hanna Park, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has some new digs—an Airstream trailer in Memphis, parked just steps from xAI’s most ambitious project yet.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of man

Browse Nearby Words

swags
swain
swains
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Swain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swain. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of elegiac

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All