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stan

1 American  
[stan] / stæn /

noun

  1. an overly enthusiastic fan, especially of a celebrity.

verb (used without object)

  1. to be an overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something.

    He's my fave rapper but I don't stan for him.
Stan 2 American  
[stan] / stæn /

noun

  1. a male given name, form of Stanley.

-stan 3 American  
Sometimes Disparaging.

  1. a combining form used humorously to form mock place names, as in Canuckistan, a nickname for Canada, or Nerdistan, any place dominated by high-tech industry and therefore supposedly populated by nerds: sometimes suggesting isolation, backwardness, or lack of freedom.

Etymology

Origin of stan1

First recorded in 2005–10; blend of stalk(er) ( def. ) + fan 2 ( def. ), influenced by the rapper Eminem's 2000 song “Stan”

Origin of -stan3

First recorded in 1955–60; from Persian -stân “place of (something), place abounding in (something),” akin to Sanskrit sthā́na “location, place”; stand ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

KPC is building a $300-million hotel next to SoFi Stadium, an addition to Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s sprawling mixed-use development on the former site of the Hollywood Park horse racing venue in Inglewood.

From Los Angeles Times

Edwards, unsure whether this represented a genuine break between the two men or a ploy by Epstein, told the Journal he alerted his law partner, Stan Pottinger.

From The Wall Street Journal

In recent research, economists Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson of the Brookings Institution, and Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute, estimate that potential monthly employment growth—the number of jobs the economy needs to add each month to keep the unemployment rate stable—fell to about 35,000 in the second half of 2025 from about 140,000 in 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal

“This was something we discussed with all the players, all of whom wanted to go,” team president Stan Kasten told Hernández.

From Los Angeles Times

Snead, who along with coach Sean McVay signed extensions this week, said Wednesday during a videoconference with reporters that the “opportunity to continue shouldering my responsibility” along with McVay and other executives for owner Stan Kroenke was “the opportunity of a lifetime.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.