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
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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:
“Markets have a faint smell of a crisis in the making,” said Ed Al-Hussainy, a portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
But it’s not for the faint of heart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
"A storm reveals itself in the faint natural signals it emits and in the echoes returned by the signals we send to prove it," she said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
The signal can be exceptionally faint because conventional carbon ink and carbonized papyrus can look very similar to X rays.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
Then JB’s voice came through again, faint but distinct.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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
When a green resident faints, her fellow physicians wait for her to revive before tossing her back into the fray.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2025
He sniffs Heather’s hair and faints from delight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
What if he’s stuck or trapped somewhere, and faints under the mighty sun?
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Hope still has a heartbeat, but that grows fainter by the loss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
By blocking that light, the coronagraph could allow scientists to detect the much fainter light reflected by planets orbiting nearby.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
Instead of producing similar flares on each return, they become steadily fainter.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
To spot S301 -- which is two billion times fainter than the star Betelgeuse in our sky -- the team of astronomers used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in the Chilean desert.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The cries of the cliff-ghasts and the crash of the waves grew fainter as they climbed, and presently the only sound was the ceaseless crying of seabirds.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Like hundreds of volunteers and rescuers, he has spent hours clinging to the faintest hope there may be survivors in the rubble, despite the 7.4 magnitude quake that struck this coffee capital on Monday morning.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
"I really haven't the faintest idea as to what I've done," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
It’s sprinkled with the faintest touch of spice but happily lacks the tired tropes of most romantasy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
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
"His friend slumped and fainted, and many others also collapsed."
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 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
The bravest had trembled when he made these faces, and ordinary people had fallen to the floor, and sensitive people had often fainted.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
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
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
Does anyone need to lie down on an official FIFA-issued fainting couch?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Pilgrims perform most of the hajj's rites outdoors where more than a million devotees gather in stifling conditions, with many attendees succumbing to heatstroke, fainting spells and even cardiac arrest triggered by the heat.
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
Close to fainting, I leaned against the wall and stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
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.
