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PlainSpell

fawn

UK /fɔːn/noun, adjective, verb

fawn is spelled F-A-W-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “faun vs fawn” about 210 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, fawn means “A young deer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fawn is fawns.

How many letters and syllables are in fawn?

Letters4: F-A-W-N
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is fawn?

Fawn appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce fawn?

  • UK /fɔːn/
  • British /foːn/
  • /fɔn/

Fawn has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fawn.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with fawn

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

faun vs fawn210 G

Sounds like: faun (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with fawn?

7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fawn from its last stressed vowel (/ɔn/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of fawn

  • fawns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • fawning participle, present
  • fawned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does fawn mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A young deer.

  2. 2

    A pale brown colour tinted with yellow, like that of a fawn.

  3. 3

    obsoleteThe young of an animal; a whelp.

  4. 4

    rareA servile cringe or bow.

  5. 5

    Base flattery.

adjective

  1. 1

    Of the fawn colour.

verb

  1. 1

    To give birth to a fawn.

  2. 2

    To show devotion or submissiveness by wagging its tail, nuzzling, licking, etc.

  3. 3

    To exhibit affection toward someone.

  4. 4

    To attempt to please someone.

  5. 5

    derogatoryTo seek favour by flattery and obsequious behaviour.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Fawn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfaon (young deer), ramper, flagorner (to seek favour by flattery)
GermanDamkalb, Hirschkalb, Rehkitz (young deer), hellbraun, beigebraun, dunkelblond (colour)
Portuguesecorço (young deer), puxar saco, bajular, adular (to seek favour by flattery), fulvo (colour), agradar (to exhibit affection)
Spanishcervatillo, cervato, gabato (young deer), beis, marrón claro (colour), hacer fiestas a (to exhibit affection)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does fawn come from?

From Middle English fawne, fowne, foun, from Old French faon, foon, feon, from Vulgar Latin *fētōnem, from Latin fētus (“offspring, young”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suckle, nurse”). Displaced native Old English hindċealf (literally “deer calf”). Doublet of fetus.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after fawn