VocabauraVOCABAURA

waning

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

The fact or act of becoming less or less intense or present.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wayning

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈweɪnɪŋ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The fact or act of becoming less or less intense or present; fading.

  2. The fact or act of becoming smaller.

adjective

  1. Becoming weaker or smaller.

  2. Of the lunar phase: as it shrinks when viewed from the Earth.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The fact or act of becoming less or less intense or present; fading.

Used this way, waning is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use waning

  • “After full moon comes the waning moon.”adjective
  • “The waning of his enthusiasm was obvious.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “waning”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

waning moonwaning yearswaning influencewaning powerwaning interestwaning strengthwaning popularitywaning day

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “waning” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.