Meaning & use
stan
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Meanings
nouncountable
A fan who is extremely devoted to a celebrity, band or show, sometimes obsessively so.
Grammar: Informal and countable: she is a huge stan of that singer.
Patterns
- a stan of someone
- a stan for someone
He's a die-hard stan of that K-pop group.
Her stans filled the comments with hearts.
Every singer has a few stans who defend them online.
verbtransitive
To support someone or something enthusiastically and loyally, usually online.
Grammar: Takes an object: I stan this show.
Patterns
- stan someone
- stan for someone
I stan any film directed by her.
They stan that team no matter how the season goes.
Word forms
| plural | stans |
|---|---|
| third person singular | stans |
| past tense | stanned |
| -ing form | stanning |
Common combinations
- stan culture
- Stan culture can be warm but intense.
- stan account
- She runs a stan account for her favorite actor.
- stan Twitter
- Stan Twitter exploded after the trailer.
- proud stan
- I'm a proud stan of that band.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fan
- Fan is the neutral word and does not imply obsessive devotion, unlike stan.
- superfan
- Superfan stresses degree of enthusiasm but lacks the internet-slang flavor of stan.
- fanatic
- Fanatic can sound critical or extreme, while stan is often used proudly.
- groupie
- Groupie suggests following a musician around, whereas stan mostly describes online support.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: stan or fan?
stan vs fan
A fan just likes something; a stan is far more intensely devoted and active.
Practice
Someone who posts about a singer all day and defends them in every argument is best called a ____.
Choose one answer.
A stan is an extremely devoted fan. A critic or rival would not defend the singer so loyally.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stan”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.