faint
lacking brightness, vividness, clearness, loudness, strength, etc.: a faint light;a faint color;a faint sound.
feeble or slight: faint resistance;faint praise;a faint resemblance.
feeling weak, dizzy, or exhausted; about to lose consciousness: faint with hunger.
lacking courage; cowardly; timorous: Faint heart never won fair maid.
Law. unfounded: a faint action.
to lose consciousness temporarily.
to lose brightness.
Archaic. to grow weak; lose spirit or courage.
a temporary loss of consciousness resulting from a decreased flow of blood to the brain; a swoon: to fall into a faint.
Origin of faint
1Other words for faint
1 | indistinct, ill-defined, dim, faded, dull, 2 |
faltering, irresolute, weak | 3 |
languid | 4 |
pusillanimous, fearful, timid, dastardly | 6 |
Other words from faint
- fainter, noun
- faint·ing·ly, adverb
- faintish, adjective
- faint·ish·ness, noun
- faintly, adverb
- faintness, noun
- o·ver·faint, adjective
- o·ver·faint·ly, adverb
- o·ver·faint·ness, noun
- un·faint·ing, adjective
- un·faint·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with faint
Words Nearby faint
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use faint in a sentence
You can still see them going by, but barely—they’re very faint.
Satellite mega-constellations risk ruining astronomy forever | Neel Patel | September 2, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewOn the sides, a lean premixed flame appears as a faint wisp.
Four types of flames join forces to make this eerie ‘blue whirl’ | Emily Conover | August 12, 2020 | Science NewsResearchers have started to make rough Faraday rotation measurements using LOFAR, but the telescope has trouble picking out the extremely faint signal.
The Hidden Magnetic Universe Begins to Come Into View | Natalie Wolchover | July 2, 2020 | Quanta MagazineBy training computers to recognize such faint rumbles, the scientists were able not only to identify the probable culprit behind the quakes, but also to track how such mysterious swarms can spread through complex fault networks in space and time.
Machine learning helped demystify a California earthquake swarm | Carolyn Gramling | June 18, 2020 | Science NewsWhen that faint light hits the other side, it’s already been split apart into its colors.
Explainer: Rainbows, fogbows and their eerie cousins | Matthew Cappucci | May 1, 2020 | Science News For Students
Her voice was raspy and after answering questions she paused, as if about to faint.
Jeopardy! Champion Julia Collins’s Brain Feels Like Mush | Sujay Kumar | November 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI saw a faint, sweet glimmer of the ferocious protector he once was.
But this time I can plainly hear, through the rush of words, the faint rattle of hysteria that bespeaks a screw loose somewhere.
After about an hour, he hears a faint tapping sound from inside the freezer and opens the door.
Robin Williams, Hollywood’s Grand Jester, Is Dead at 63 | Marlow Stern | August 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTA fine book all around, but not a book for the faint of heart.
The faint candle-light glimmered on a ponderous gilded cornice, which had also sustained violence.
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le FanuIt was difficult to describe—a little sterner, a little wilder, a faint emphasis of the barbaric peering through it.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodHe was looking at me with eyebrows arched, curiously, and there was a faint suggestion of hostility in the set of his mouth.
The Soldier of the Valley | Nelson LloydThe cytoplasm of lymphocytes is generally robin's-egg blue; that of the large mononuclears may have a faint bluish tinge.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddWright's stain gives such cells a faint bluish tinge when the condition is mild, and a rather deep blue when severe.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
British Dictionary definitions for faint
/ (feɪnt) /
lacking clarity, brightness, volume, etc: a faint noise
lacking conviction or force; weak: faint praise
feeling dizzy or weak as if about to lose consciousness
without boldness or courage; timid (esp in the combination faint-hearted)
not the faintest, not the faintest idea or not the faintest notion no idea whatsoever: I haven't the faintest
to lose consciousness, esp momentarily, as through weakness
archaic, or poetic to fail or become weak, esp in hope or courage
a sudden spontaneous loss of consciousness, usually momentary, caused by an insufficient supply of blood to the brain: Technical name: syncope
Origin of faint
1Derived forms of faint
- fainter, noun
- faintingly, adverb
- faintish, adjective
- faintishness, noun
- faintly, adverb
- faintness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with faint
see damn with faint praise.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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