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wan(2) (iou)



wan adjective1. OE.
[Origin unkn.]
1. Esp. of the sea or other water: lacking light or lustre; gloomy, dark. Chiefly poet. OE.
2. Of an unhealthy greyish colour; discoloured as by a bruise. OE-M17.
3. a. Esp. of a person or a person's face: pallid, sickly; unusually or unhealthily pale. Freq. in pale and wan. ME.
D. H. Lawrence Lettie came home wan, sad-eyed, and self-reproachful. absol.: Tennyson Melissa, tinged with wan from lack of sleep.
b. Of the light of the moon, stars, etc.: faint, dull, partially obscured. E17.
D. H. Lawrence The wan moon..sank into insignificance.
4. Sad, dismal. Formerly also, fearful, deadly, cruel. poet. LME.
Special collocations: wan smile a faint or forced smile (as of someone sick or unhappy).
wanly adverb with a wan look; pallidly; fig. dejectedly: ME.
wanness [-n-n-] noun the condition of being wan; pallidness: LME.
wannish adjective somewhat wan LME.