faint
Part of speech: adj
noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English faynt, feynt (“weak; feeble”), from Old French faint, feint (“feigned; negligent; sluggish”), past participle of feindre, faindre (“to feign; sham; work negligently”), from Latin fingere (“to touch, handle, form, shape, frame, form in thought, imagine, conceive, contrive, devise, feign”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold”). Cognate with feign and fiction and more distantly dough.
Inflected forms:
form: fainter
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: faintest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: feint
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: faints
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: faints
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: fainting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: fainted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: fainted
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
pos: adj
examples: I felt faint after my fifth gin and tonic.
He almost fell faint due to the hot climate.
gloss: Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected.
pos: adj
examples: Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.
gloss: Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp.
pos: adj
examples: There was a faint red light in the distance.
gloss: Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy.
pos: adj
examples: faint efforts
faint resistance
They damned the latest book with faint praise.
gloss: Slight; minimal.
pos: adj
examples: a faint chance
do you have the faintest understanding of what they mean?
gloss: Sickly, so as to make a person feel faint.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
examples: Happening to pass a fruiterer’s on their way; the door of which was open, though the shop was by this time shut; one of them remarked how faint the peaches smelled.
gloss: The act of fainting, syncope.
pos: noun
examples: She suffered another faint.
gloss: The state of one who has fainted; a swoon.
pos: noun
tags: rare
gloss: To lose consciousness through a lack of oxygen or nutrients to the brain, usually as a result of suddenly reduced blood flow (may be caused by emotional trauma, loss of blood or various medical conditions).
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: A fainting fit.
If I send them away fasting […] they will faint by the way.
But upon hearing the Honour which he intended her , she fainted away , and fell down as Dead at his Feet
gloss: To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
gloss: To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: November 12, 1711, Alexander Pope, letter to Henry Cromwell
Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.
Synonyms: queal
Derived words: damn with faint praise
fainten
faint-heart
faintheart
fainthearted
faint-hearted
faint heart never won fair lady
faint heart never won fair maiden
fainthood
faintish
faintling
faintly
faintness
faint of heart
faintward
forfaint
overfaint
praise with faint damns
ultrafaint
faintful
faintless
faintsome
afaint
fainting goat
faintingly
faintingness
fainty
unfainting
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: неясен
roman: nejasen
lang: Bulgarian
word: неотчетлив
roman: neotčetliv
lang: Catalan
word: feble
lang: Catalan
word: tènue
lang: Czech
word: slabý
lang: Czech
word: sotva patrný
lang: Dutch
word: zwak
lang: Finnish
word: hämärä
lang: Finnish
word: vaimea
lang: Finnish
word: heikko
lang: French
word: faible
lang: German
word: unsicher
lang: German
word: unentschlossen
lang: Greek
word: αχνός
roman: achnós
lang: Hebrew
word: כהה
roman: keiheh
lang: Hindi
word: फीका
roman: phīkā
lang: Icelandic
word: daufur
lang: Italian
word: incerto
lang: Italian
word: indistinto
lang: Italian
word: tenue
lang: Italian
word: debole
lang: Japanese
word: かすか
roman: kasuka
lang: Japanese
word: 淡い
roman: awai
lang: Korean
word: 흐릿하다
roman: heurithada
lang: Māori
word: tōriki
lang: Māori
word: tōririki
lang: Māori
word: muhani
lang: Māori
word: makaro
lang: Māori
word: hīrea
lang: Māori
word: whekowheko
lang: Occitan
word: feble
lang: Occitan
word: flac
lang: Portuguese
word: tênue
lang: Romanian
word: slab
lang: Romanian
word: estompat
lang: Russian
word: ту́склый
roman: túsklyj
lang: Spanish
word: tenue
lang: Spanish
word: apagado
lang: Spanish
word: mortecino
lang: Spanish
word: apenas perceptible
lang: Spanish
word: apenas visible
lang: Spanish
word: leve
lang: Swedish
word: svag
lang: Ukrainian
word: тьмя́ний
roman: tʹmjányj
lang: Czech
word: chabý
lang: Czech
word: vlažný
lang: Czech
word: nepřesvědčivý
lang: Dutch
word: zwak
lang: French
word: faible
lang: Hindi
word: फीका
roman: phīkā
lang: Italian
word: debole
lang: Japanese
word: 弱々しい
roman: yowayowashii
lang: Korean
word: 가냘프다
roman: ganyalpeuda
lang: Portuguese
word: tênue
lang: Romanian
word: slab
lang: Russian
word: вя́лый
roman: vjályj
lang: Spanish
word: tenue
lang: Spanish
word: apocado
lang: Spanish
word: lánguido
lang: Swedish
word: svag
lang: Māori
word: tirehe