Meaning & use
wane
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To become gradually smaller, weaker or less powerful, often after a high point.
Grammar: No object follows: interest waned, not they waned interest.
Patterns
- something wanes
- wane in something
Public interest in the scandal began to wane.
His enthusiasm for the project waned after the first month.
The empire's power waned during the long war.
verbintransitivetechnical
Of the moon, to show a smaller bright part each night after being full.
Grammar: Used with moon; the opposite is wax.
Patterns
- the moon wanes
The moon waned over the next two weeks.
As the moon wanes, the nights grow darker.
nounsingular
A period or state of becoming less, mostly in the phrase on the wane.
Grammar: Almost only used in on the wane.
Patterns
- on the wane
Her popularity was on the wane by the end of the year.
Is the trend already on the wane?
Word forms
| third person singular | wanes |
|---|---|
| past tense | waned |
| past participle | waned |
| -ing form | waning |
Common combinations
- begin to wane
- Her patience began to wane.
- on the wane
- His influence is clearly on the wane.
- waning moon
- A waning moon hung over the hills.
- interest wanes
- Interest wanes quickly once the novelty fades.
- wax and wane
- The fortunes of the town wax and wane with the harvest.
- waning influence
- The party's waning influence worried its leaders.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dwindle
- Dwindle suggests getting smaller and smaller in number or amount, whereas wane is more about fading strength.
- fade
- Fade focuses on losing brightness or clarity and is less formal than wane.
- ebb
- Ebb pictures the tide going out, and is used for flows of feeling or energy that may return.
- decline
- Decline is a neutral, general word for becoming less, with no sense of a gradual curve.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wane or wain? wane or wean?
wane vs wain
A wain is an old word for a farm wagon; it sounds the same as wane but has no link to decline.
wane vs wean
Wean means to gradually stop a baby or animal feeding on milk, and sounds different from wane.
Practice
After the festival ended, tourist numbers began to ____.
Choose one answer.
Wane means to become less. Wax is its opposite, meaning to grow, so it contradicts the sense of numbers falling after the event.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wane”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.