Word.ws English Dictionary

fabian

Syllables: Fa·bi·an/ˈfeɪ.biː.ən/US/ˈfeɪ.bi.ən/

fabian is the alternative form of Fabian.

Adjective capitalized: Fabian

Fabian (comparative more Fabian, superlative most Fabian)

  1. Pertaining to or reminiscent of Roman general Fabius Maximus, whose tactics against Hannibal during the Second Punic War famously consisted of delaying or avoiding combat, focusing instead on weakening the enemy by cutting off supply lines.
    • Hood complained behind his commander's back to Richmond of Johnston's Fabian strategy.1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2004, page 745
    • “This is how I know you've never had an adult relationship. If I say no, then I will be required to say yes to something else in the future, and the stakes in the future might be higher.” “Then say yes.” “If I give in, then I'm no longer the alpha in my house. Before you know it, she'll have me...2010 September 23, Tina Fey, “The Fabian Strategy” (5:03 from the start), in 30 Rock, season 5, episode 1, spoken by Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin)
  2. Advocating that social reforms be reached through a series of gradual and moderate stages rather than sudden revolution; specifically, relating to the Fabian Society, a British socialist society advocating reformist socialism.
  3. (broadly) Cautious; dilatory; avoiding a decisive contest.

Noun capitalized: Fabian

Fabian (plural Fabians)

  1. A Fabian socialist, a gradualist socialist; a member of the Fabian Society.

Proper noun capitalized: Fabian

Fabian

  1. (rare) A male given name from Latin.
  2. A surname.

Synonyms of fabian

Forms of fabian

Adjective
comparativemore fabian
superlativemost fabian
comparativemore Fabian
superlativemost Fabian
alternative formfabian
Noun
pluralFabians

Origin of fabian

From Latin Fabiānus (“belonging to Fabius”), derived from Fabius + -ānus.

Words that rhyme with fabian

Questions about fabian

What does fabian mean?
Fabian means pertaining to or reminiscent of Roman general Fabius Maximus, whose tactics against Hannibal during the Second Punic War famously consisted of delaying or avoiding combat, focusing instead on weakening the enemy by cutting off supply lines.
What is fabian the alternative form of?
Fabian is the alternative form of Fabian.
What part of speech is fabian?
Fabian can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce fabian?
Fabian is pronounced /ˈfeɪ.biː.ən/ (UK).

Words near fabian in the dictionary

  1. Faberry
  2. fabes con amasueles
  3. fabesetron
  4. fabest
  5. Fabia
  6. fabian
  7. Fabianism
  8. Fabianist
  9. Fabianists
  10. fabianite
  11. Fabians

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fabian (page history and authors); Fabian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Fabian.wav.

Cite this entry: “fabian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fabian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.