wan
/wɑn/adjective, noun
wan is spelled W-A-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, wan means “Pale, sickly-looking” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in wan?
| Letters | 3: W-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.3 times per million words; the 9,594th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is wan?
Wan appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th 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 wan?
- UK /wɒn/
- US /wɑn/
- /wæn/
Wan 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-wan.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-WAN.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with wan
Sounds like: won (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with wan?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as wan from its last stressed vowel (/ɑn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: naw, awn.
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 wan
- wanner comparative
- wannest superlative
- wans plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pale, sickly-looking.
- 2
Dim, faint.
- 3
Bland, uninterested.
A wan expression
noun
- 1
The quality of being wan; wanness.
- 2
Pronunciation spelling of one, representing Ireland and Glasgow English.
- 3
IrelandA girl or woman.
noun
- 1
Acronym of wide area network.
Message latency is much more of an issue on a WAN than on a LAN.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | blême, pâlot, pâlotte , blafard, blafarde , indifférent |
| German | fahl, matt |
| Portuguese | cadavérico , WAN |
| Spanish | palidez , flaqueza , indiferente |
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 wan come from?
From Middle English wan, wanne (“grey, leaden; pale grey, ashen; blue-black (like a bruise); dim, faint; dark, gloomy”), from Old English wann (“dark, dusky”), from Proto-Germanic *wannaz (“dark, swart”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Frisian wann, wonn (“dark”). The meaning and sense has been attributed to influence from Proto-Brythonic, Proto-Celtic *wasnos (cf. Welsh gwan. Irish fann).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).