1
as in boyfriend
a male romantic companion
a romanticized portrait of a bygone era of beauteous Southern belles and their gallant swains
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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
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Recent Examples of swain
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But in the new film, the unnamed swain has been replaced by a Robin Hood-style heartthrob named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who leads a defiant group of bandits that steals from the monarchy and gives to the poor.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
Kramer, once again showing infinite tact, dissuaded the swain.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Dec. 2023
Stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth return for the fourth time as ace archer Everdeen and her pair of devoted swains, director Francis Lawrence is back for his third film, and screenwriters Peter Craig and Danny Strong mark this as their second effort.
—Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2023
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But in the new film, the unnamed swain has been replaced by a Robin Hood-style heartthrob named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who leads a defiant group of bandits that steals from the monarchy and gives to the poor.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
Kramer, once again showing infinite tact, dissuaded the swain.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Dec. 2023
Stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth return for the fourth time as ace archer Everdeen and her pair of devoted swains, director Francis Lawrence is back for his third film, and screenwriters Peter Craig and Danny Strong mark this as their second effort.
—Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swain
Noun
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Back inside, her boyfriend let the dogs out of their crates and brought tea and Diet Cokes for us.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
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The following year, Nelson followed her boyfriend to Mississippi for his standout season at Ole Miss, before the pair started focusing their sights on the upcoming NFL draft.—
Luke Chinman,
PEOPLE,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Letterboxd is a social-media platform dedicated to film lovers, allowing users to log movies, review them, create lists, and follow other cinephiles.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
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The show’s second season, based on Mona Kasten’s book Save You, follows the first installment, which found James Beaufort (Damien Hardung) and Ruby Bell (Harriet Herbig-Matten) go from enemies to lovers as the both worked hard to get into Oxford.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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However, since then, the reality star has continued to show off her beau.—
Raven Brunner,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
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Her complicated grief deepens a rift with her teenage daughter Clara (Grace), whose college dreams and new beau (Thames) Morgan does not approve of.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The perfect nine represents the nine daughters who have ninety-nine suitors to pick from.—
Amber McBride,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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Unsurprisingly, given how productive Williams has been over the course of his seven-year career, there were other suitors who were close to acquiring Williams before he was ultimately dealt to Dallas.—
Reice Shipley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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No army in history seemed ever to have been more ragged and motley and mongrel and polyglot than the Continental, rich and poor, learned and illiterate, from boys to old men, skilled and unskilled, born all over the world, speaking dozens of languages, believing in different gods and in no god.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
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Gordon's wife Tana Ramsay also shared a post in honor of Jesse's big day, including more photos of the birthday boy.—
Hannah Sacks,
PEOPLE,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Sacramento native Jayden Teat scored 19 points, and fellow guards Mikey Williams and Prophet Johnson had 16 and 15 points, respectively, as Sac State moved to 10-0 all-time against Jessup since the series started in 2003.—
Joe Davidson,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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No surprise that after a very on-the-level investigation, McInerney found his card-carrying, fellow-traveling comrade to be the most beautiful girl in the world.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is pressing charges against a man who was caught on camera touching and attempting to kiss her during a public appearance on Tuesday.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
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The Little Rock man who, police say, crashed while fleeing from an Arkansas State Police trooper last week now faces first-degree murder counts in the death of two teenage passengers, authorities said Wednesday.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Swain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swain. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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