Definitions

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

  • prefix Preceding nouns and adjectives with the sense ‘bad, un-

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old English wan- (prefix expressing privation or negation), from Proto-Germanic *wanaz (“lacking, missing, deficient”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)wAn-, *wān- (“empty”). Cognate with Dutch wan-, German Wahn-, Danish, Swedish and Icelandic van-, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃 (wans, "lacking, deficient"). More at want.

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Examples

  • Quite a few people have forgotten how Labour got us into this mess along with Mr. Cameron's friends, the wan- er bankers and that the Lib Dems have to make compromises to be in the Coalition.

    The Independent - Frontpage RSS Feed 2011

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