faint
Americanadjective
-
fainter,
comparative
-
faintest
superlative
-
lacking brightness, vividness, clearness, loudness, strength, etc..
a faint light;
a faint color;
a faint sound.
- Synonyms:
- dull, dim, ill-defined, indistinct
-
feeble or slight.
faint resistance;
faint praise;
a faint resemblance.
- Synonyms:
- weak, irresolute
-
feeling weak, dizzy, or exhausted; about to lose consciousness.
faint with hunger.
- Synonyms:
- languid
-
lacking courage; cowardly; timorous.
Faint heart never won fair maid.
- Synonyms:
- dastardly, timid, fearful, pusillanimous
-
Law. unfounded.
a faint action.
verb (used without object)
-
faints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fainted,
past participle, past
-
fainting
present participle
-
to lose consciousness temporarily.
-
to lose brightness.
-
Archaic. to grow weak; lose spirit or courage.
noun
-
faints
plural
adjective
-
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 )
-
no idea whatsoever
I haven't the faintest
verb
-
to lose consciousness, esp momentarily, as through weakness
-
archaic to fail or become weak, esp in hope or courage
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
fainternoun
-
faintishnessnoun
-
faintnessnoun
-
overfaintnessnoun
-
faintishadjective
-
overfaintadjective
-
unfaintingadjective
-
faintinglyadverb
-
faintlyadverb
-
overfaintlyadverb
-
unfaintlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
faintsimple
-
faintssimple
-
have faintedperfect
-
has faintedperfect
-
am faintingprogressive
-
are faintingprogressive
-
is faintingprogressive
-
have been faintingperfect progressive
-
has been faintingperfect progressive
Past
-
faintedsimple
-
had faintedperfect
-
was faintingprogressive
-
were faintingprogressive
-
had been faintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of faint
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French: literally, “feigned,” past participle of faindre, feindre “to feign”; see feign
Explanation
Something faint has no courage or vigor. If you suddenly round the corner and see a gang of bullies staring straight at you, chances are you'll feel faint. Faint comes from the French feindre, for being cowardly or shirking duties. We usually use it to mean without great strength. If you faint, you pass out, from low blood supply to your brain. If you feel faint, you feel weak. Faint also means dim or vague. If you're staring out to sea, you might see the faint outline of an approaching ship. If you really can't remember the answer to something, say you "haven't the faintest idea."
Vocabulary lists containing faint
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
From a location with especially dark skies, you might also notice a faint, cloudy band that appears to rise like steam from the Teapot's spout.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
When he does speak, his words carry a faint Southern twang from his upbringing in Alabama.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Christina Siceloff, 41 years old, can still smell a faint chemical odor after a downpour, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Dezhyna, who leaves a faint floral scent behind her as she paces the streets, is lobbying officials to rebuild a skate park.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
The faint sputter of a motorcar came from down the street, and a few minutes later a train on Alameda rattled on the rails as it headed to the railyard just beyond Chinatown.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Yasser regularly faints when she tries to stand.
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026
When Louise, angling for attention, participates in her church’s Inner Beauty pageant, her talent is holding her breath until she faints.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026
O’Sullivan determined that Darcie was suffering psychosomatic seizures and faints, very real but not caused by a physical problem.
From Salon ● May 13, 2025
"My mother frequently complains of headaches, leg pain, hip pain and sometimes faints," he said.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025
Ida Nee said, “This is ridiculous. No one faints in my classes. I don’t believe in fainting.”
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
During a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely blocks the bright disk of the Sun, making the much fainter solar corona visible.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Light pollution will hide the fainter meteors, leaving only the brightest ones visible.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
As brands go through creative directors like tissues, the connection to what made a house beloved seems to get fainter and fainter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Most cell phones now use two GPS frequency bands -- one that is older and fainter, and a second that is newer and stronger.
From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026
But the helicopter’s sound grew fainter, and then it faded away completely.
From "I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005" by Lauren Tarshis
By the late 1960s, "he wasn't in the faintest a shy person", Kasmin recalled.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
She learned his signals, guessed words from the faintest cues and turned his minimal motion into living language.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
Defeat at the Gabba left only the keenest optimists holding on to the faintest hope.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
Even the faintest irritation, say a restaurant chain tinkering with its logo, can summon thousands to the same digital square.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2025
She hadn’t the faintest idea what any of it meant.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
She said one student fainted after hearing about the disaster, but many initially underestimated the danger and waited for classmates who were in a maths lesson.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
I learned about chocolatines last year from the Journal’s Joshua Robinson, who fainted from embarrassment when I walked into a Toulouse patisserie and ordered a “chocolatini,” like it was happy hour at an airport Chili’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
One 32-year-old Berliner, Diane, told AFP she had fainted from the heat once already, despite drinking three litres of water.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
Last year, Price fainted while appearing at a groundbreaking for the upgrade of the Los Angeles Convention Center, which is located in his district.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
“Mom said Bueli fainted and bumped her head and they had to take her to the hospital,” Joe said.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
For all its immortal ideas and all those outsized news reports of people fainting, “The Exorcist” could’ve faded from memory if so much of what came after didn’t prove to be a cheap imitation.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
She also experienced very low energy, hair loss, severe dizziness, fainting spells from low blood sugar and brain fog.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
As it worsens, however, it can lead to fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting, heart failure, and in some cases premature death.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
During the 1978 inquest investigation, Nix had initially claimed Andrea took a bath on her own and later complained of itchy legs before fainting, jurors heard.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
A moment later the owl dæmon swooped with a clumsy fainting movement to his side, and half lay on the snow, struggling to fold her wings.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
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.
