swoon

[ swoon ]
See synonyms for: swoonswoonedswooning on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. to faint; lose consciousness.

  2. to enter a state of hysterical rapture or ecstasy: The teenagers swooned at the sight of the singing star.

noun
  1. a faint or fainting fit; syncope.

Origin of swoon

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (verb) swo(w)nen “to faint,” originally as gerund swowening, swoghning “act of swooning,” ultimately continuing Old English -swōgan (in compounds) “to rush, overrun, choke”; Middle English (noun) partly derivative of the verb, partly extracted from in (a) swoune, on swoune, alteration of a swoune, aswoune “in a swoon,” as if equivalent to aa-1 + swoon (noun), but probably continuing Old English āswōgen, past participle of āswōgan “to overcome” (see a-3), or geswōgen (past participle) “senseless, dead”

Other words from swoon

  • swoon·ing·ly, adverb
  • un·swoon·ing, adjective

Words Nearby swoon

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How to use swoon in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for swoon

swoon

/ (swuːn) /


verb(intr)
  1. a literary word for faint

  2. to become ecstatic

noun
  1. an instance of fainting

Origin of swoon

1
Old English geswōgen insensible, past participle of swōgan (unattested except in compounds) to suffocate
  • Also (archaic or dialect): swound

Derived forms of swoon

  • swooning, adjective
  • swooningly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012