fandom

American  

[fan-duhm] / ˈfæn dəm /

noun

1. fans collectively, as of a celebrity, a movie, a book, or a professional game or sport.

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Etymology

Origin of fandom

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; fan ² + -dom

Explanation

Use the word fandom to talk about the community of people who admire a particular celebrity, hero, sports team, or TV show. If you are president of the Boston Red Sox fan club, you're part of the team's fandom. Your favorite boy band might have a fandom that consists mainly of screaming pre-teens, while National Public Radio's fandom is probably mostly middle aged. If you are a fan of a singer or a series of comic books, you can say you belong to their fandom. The word has been around since the very early twentieth century, from fan, a baseball slang abbreviation of fanatic, which comes from the Latin fanaticus, "mad, or inspired by a god."

Example Sentences

I haven’t been as much a part of the fandom as I used to be, because there’s been some issues.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Yet for many guests, the experience is less about fandom and more about retreat.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

The joke is that by the time the chorus arrives, the boys are invariably belting out every word, unable to conceal their fandom for another moment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

In a hyper-modern environment like the internet, so eager to eat itself alive in the pursuit of newness, “The End of Oak Street” fandom is delightfully prehistoric.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

“The online fandom would be in shambles. The wiki may crash.”

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas