fair-weather fan
A fan who only pays attention to their favorite team when they are performing well.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He is just a fair-weather fan who only watches winning games.”
“A fair-weather fan never stays to watch the team lose a difficult game.”
“When the team started losing every game, the stadium emptied because most of the crowd were just fair-weather fans.”
“You can tell she is a fair-weather fan because she stopped wearing the team jersey as soon as they fell to the bottom of the league.”
“My brother claims to love basketball, but he acts like a fair-weather fan by only checking the scores when the playoffs begin.”
“True supporters stay loyal through every defeat, unlike the fair-weather fans who only appear when the team is celebrating a championship victory.”
From fair-weather and fan, the term draws an analogy between the presence of clear skies and the absence of social or competitive difficulty. The compound suggests a preference for trouble-free times, implying that the individual's loyalty is contingent upon the climate remaining agreeable.
- 01
bandwagon fan
A fan who has shown no past loyalty to a team and supports them all because they are actively succeeding or trendy.
- 02
fair-weather friend
One who is friendly, helpful, or available only when it is advantageous or convenient to be so.
- 03
fan dance
The incremental disclosure of tantalizing bits of information.
- 04
fan the flames
To intensify or worsen an already difficult situation.
- 05
fart fan
A ceiling fan in a bathroom
- 06
hit the fan
To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect.
Last updated August 10, 2026