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• wan
  wan

  adjective

  of an unnatural or sickly pallor; pallid; lacking color.
• WAN
  WAN

  noun

  wide-area network.

wan

¹ American  

[won] / wɒn /

adjective

wanner, wannest

1. of an unnatural or sickly pallor; pallid; lacking color.

   His wan face suddenly flushed.

   Synonyms:

   ashen

   Antonyms:

   ruddy

2. showing or suggesting ill health, fatigue, unhappiness, etc..

   a wan look; a wan smile.

3. lacking in forcefulness, competence, or effectiveness.

   their wan attempts to organize the alumni.

   Synonyms:

   limp, ineffectual, halfhearted, weak, feeble

4. Archaic.

   1. dark or gloomy.

   2. pale in color or hue.

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verb (used with or without object)

wanned, wanning

1. to become or make wan.

wan ² American  

[wahn] / wɑn /

verb

Obsolete.

1. a simple past tense of win.

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WAN ³ American  

[wan] / wæn /

noun

1. wide-area network.

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WAN ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. wide area network

2. Nigeria (international car registration)

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wan ² British  

/ wɒn /

adjective

1. unnaturally pale esp from sickness, grief, etc

2. characteristic or suggestive of ill health, unhappiness, etc

3. (of light, stars, etc) faint or dim

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verb

1. to make or become wan

WAN Scientific  

/ wăn /

1. Short for wide area network. A communications network that uses such devices as telephone lines, satellite dishes, or radio waves to span a larger geographic area than can be covered by a LAN. The Internet is a WAN.

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Related Words

See pale ¹.

Other Word Forms

• wanly
  adverb
• wanness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of wan

before 900; Middle English; Old English wann dark, gloomy

Explanation

Someone who is wan is visibly unwell and lacking in energy. If you’ve had the flu for over a week, and you finally get out of bed looking pale and tired, your mother might say that you look wan. When your aunt comes to dinner and eats three helpings of dessert, she might seem a little wan as she drinks her tea, meaning she looks sickly and weak — and no wonder, after so many slices of pie! Wan can also describe a fading light — one that is sickly and weak, just like your aunt. When the light bulb in the living room burns out and leaves only wan twilight filtering in, you’ll find it impossible to read.

Example Sentences

Our mother did reappear, looking wan and smiling bravely, and we had to pretend that she was fine.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 2, 2025

“We watched them install it one night. It’s not like they talk to us or ask us for permission,” he said, a wan smile on his face.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2025

But they also make one wish this wan treatment had kept Baldwin’s name out of its mouth.

From Salon • Jan. 31, 2024

Is it that the many bad versions out there — soggy noodles swathed in bottled dressing and tossed with wan vegetables — make good ones hard to imagine?

From Seattle Times • Sep. 25, 2023

This will always be the color of Westchester for me, that wan gray, the kind of gray that speaks of an impenetrable wealth, never too fancy.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee