WAN Synonyms: 39 Similar and Opposite Words

wan

adjective

ˈwän

Definition of wan

as in pallid

lacking a healthy skin color she looks a little wan after all that tiring work

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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 wan Evans managed both to placate the money men at Gulf & Western, who wanted to sell Paramount because of its wan revenue, and become a peer of Hollywood's rambunctious talent. — cleveland, 28 Oct. 2019 What seemed inventive and clever in the confines of a small off-Broadway theater feels utterly wan in its current incarnation. — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Oct. 2019 Our family just discovered Gobi Manchurian, and for anyone who considers cauliflower a wan version of broccoli, try this and banish thoughts of soggy vegetables from your mind. — BostonGlobe.com, 30 Mar. 2018 In spite of the lovingly detailed suburban ambience, interiors, gardens and clothes, the atmosphere feels torqued beyond time and history into a fairy tale theater of desire and wan hope. — Marina Warner, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2018 See All Example Sentences for wan

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wan

Adjective

The pallid grayness of Mike Eley’s cinematography is probably supposed to mimic the finality of HIV/AIDS taking hold, but there’s no passion aesthetically to counterbalance what becomes absolute misery onscreen to watch.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
Young people in particular have soured on the technology over the last year, a development that may at least partially be explained by a pallid entry-level job market.

— T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of pallid

Adjective

The pinkish squid glided two miles beneath the surface, its long, pale legs trailing from undulating fins, stunning scientists who know remarkably little about its diet, behavior or reproduction.

— Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
If the opening sequence seemed pale and crude, there was quickly almost too much detail.

— John Phipps, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of pale

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wampum

wan

wander

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“Wan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wan. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of wan

adjective

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