Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a wan or pale manner; palely.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In a wan, or pale, manner.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In a wan or pale manner.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in a weak or pale or languid manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

wan +‎ -ly

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Examples

  • He leaned up against a wall and smiled kind of wanly and said, "This thing is going to go on for a while, isn't it?"

    The Obama Campaign: What They’ll Remember - Swampland - TIME.com 2008

  • One wanly said that as teachers of the Word, they had failed.

    American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010

  • A little girl holding a flag, which droops wanly on her shoulder.

    How Honest Is 'Honest Abe'? Peggy Noonan 2012

  • The mood in Haiti today reminds one of the wanly flickering orange glow of the kerosine lamps that Haiti's market women - known as ti machann - use to illuminate their wares as they work late into the night.

    Michael Deibert: Notes from Haiti's Long Hot Summer Michael Deibert 2011

  • After reading this you can stroke your goatee and state gravely: Of course it all comes down to Polk County, which – if my memory serves me correctly smile wanly – accounts for upwards of 20% of the statewide caucus vote.

    Iowa caucus results: live coverage 2012

  • He asked me for news of New York City, a place he admired for its creative chaos -- and with his ever-present cigarette in hand smiled wanly and spoke in low tones of the Czech people's "moment," the one that he was helping to create.

    Todd Brewster: Remembering Vaclav Havel Todd Brewster 2011

  • The mood in Haiti today reminds one of the wanly flickering orange glow of the kerosine lamps that Haiti's market women - known as ti machann - use to illuminate their wares as they work late into the night.

    Michael Deibert: Notes from Haiti's Long Hot Summer Michael Deibert 2011

  • The mood in Haiti today reminds one of the wanly flickering orange glow of the kerosine lamps that Haiti's market women - known as ti machann - use to illuminate their wares as they work late into the night.

    Michael Deibert: Notes from Haiti's Long Hot Summer Michael Deibert 2011

  • The mood in Haiti today reminds one of the wanly flickering orange glow of the kerosine lamps that Haiti's market women - known as ti machann - use to illuminate their wares as they work late into the night.

    Michael Deibert: Notes from Haiti's Long Hot Summer Michael Deibert 2011

  • The mood in Haiti today reminds one of the wanly flickering orange glow of the kerosine lamps that Haiti's market women - known as ti machann - use to illuminate their wares as they work late into the night.

    Michael Deibert: Notes from Haiti's Long Hot Summer Michael Deibert 2011

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