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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use faint in a sentence
That makes it appear about six times brighter than Pluto, but still far fainter than any star we can see with the unaided eye.
The Hypervelocity Star That’s Being Booted from the Galaxy | Matthew R. Francis | May 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe younger, older, and more sensitive you are, the fainter your fingerprints, Lightflower told me in an interview.
New iPhone a Problem for People Who Lack Fingerprints | Winston Ross | September 12, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut, she continues, “the earlier in life the drugs are begun, the fewer and fainter those traces and markers are likely to be.”
Generation Rx? Review of ‘Dosed: The Medication Generation Grows Up’ | Casey Schwartz | April 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTSouth Carolina offer the non-Mitts their last faint hope, but that hope grows fainter by the hour.
Already they had turned the crest of the hill, and fainter and fainter came the sound of the chase.
The Soldier of the Valley | Nelson Lloyd
The cloud coals grow fainter—now purple; and now in ashes they float away into the chill blue.
The Soldier of the Valley | Nelson LloydPresently the thunder grew fainter, and rumbled away down the valley, and the rain spent itself.
The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler WarnerWorse than all, it grew fainter and fainter and soon became little more than a trail.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnThe clanking of the keys grows fainter and fainter; the sound of footsteps dies away.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander Berkman
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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