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"Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour / Draws on apace four happy days bring in / Another moon: But oh, methinks how slow / This old moon wanes!" So Theseus describes his eagerness for his wedding night in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. As illustrated by Theseus' words, wane is a word often called upon to describe the seeming decrease in size of the moon in the later phases of the lunar cycle. The traditional opposite of wane is wax, a once common but now infrequently used synonym of grow. Wane and wax have been partnered in reference to the moon since the Middle Ages.
Synonyms
Examples of wane in a Sentence
Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2024
One possible contributing factor, the study suggests, is a waning focus on diversity and equity efforts.
—Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
The studios — particularly Marvel — were stretched painfully thin by a mandate to crank out material for Disney+, and that showed in the waning quality of the superhero franchise.
—Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Almost from the moment she was assigned the case in June, Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Mr. Trump in his waning days in office, has handled the proceeding in an unorthodox manner.
—Alan Feuer, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
Crypto startups attracted close to $50 billion in investment between 2021 and 2022, but that figure dropped below $10 billion last year as token prices fell and enthusiasm waned, according to PitchBook data.
—Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2024
Counseling or behavioral therapy can also help sufferers not only to deal with some symptoms but also to manage the cycles of the disease, as well as the waxing and waning of energy levels.
—Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
My team has discovered that once brought into the light, their saboteurs’ influence wanes.
—Ellie Victor, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
The days when the executive’s reputation was unimpeachable may be waning, however.
—Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2024
The time scale most relevant to us is an ~11-year-cycle during which the Sun's activity waxes and wanes.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 29 Jan. 2024
But the lack of funding and a wane in flexibility threaten to turn the tide once more.
—Chloe Berger, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2023
Confidence: Medium-High Tomorrow night: Clouds from the day wane.
—Dan Stillman, Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2023
Unlike everyday stress, trauma doesn’t wax and wane.
—Juli Fraga, New York Times, 5 July 2023
When women hit menopause and estrogen—which helps regulate lipid levels—wanes, their levels of LDL and triglycerides increase.
—Katherine Hobson, Time, 19 June 2023
In short, content piracy is hardly on the wane, even as many film and TV titles have become more accessible and inexpensive than ever.
—Tyler Aquilina, Variety, 13 Feb. 2023
Another move at odds with current trends is the decision to merge with a SPAC as a route to market — a type of deal that is on the wane.
—Ercan Ersoy, Bloomberg.com, 13 Dec. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wane.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wane
Cite this Entry
“Wane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wane. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
wane
1 of 2 verbwane
2 of 2 noun
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