[syn: faint, fainthearted, timid, faint-hearted]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Faint \Faint\, n.
The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a
swoon. [R.] See Fainting, n.
[1913 Webster]
The saint,
Who propped the Virgin in her faint. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Faint \Faint\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fainted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Fainting.]
1. To become weak or wanting in vigor; to grow feeble; to
lose strength and color, and the control of the bodily or
mental functions; to swoon; -- sometimes with away. See
Fainting, n.
[1913 Webster]
Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away.
--Guardian.
[1913 Webster]
If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by
the way. --Mark viii.
8.
[1913 Webster]
2. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit; to
become depressed or despondent.
[1913 Webster]
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength
is small. --Prov. xxiv.
10.
[1913 Webster]
3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
[1913 Webster]
Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before
the eye. --Pope.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Faint \Faint\ (f[=a]nt), a. [Compar. Fainter (-[~e]r); superl.
Faintest.] [OE. feint, faint, false, faint, F. feint, p. p.
of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See Feign, and cf.
Feint.]
1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as,
faint with fatigue, hunger, or thirst.
[1913 Webster]
2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly;
dejected; depressed; as, "Faint heart ne'er won fair
lady." --Old Proverb.
[1913 Webster]
3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the
senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible;
weak; as, a faint color, or sound.
[1913 Webster]
4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not
exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint
efforts; faint resistance.
[1913 Webster]
The faint prosecution of the war. --Sir J.
Davies.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Faint \Faint\, v. t.
To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to
weaken. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
It faints me to think what follows. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
faint
adj 1: deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking
clarity or brightness or loudness etc; "a faint outline";
"the wan sun cast faint shadows"; "the faint light of a
distant candle"; "weak colors"; "a faint hissing sound";
"a faint aroma"; "a weak pulse" [syn: faint, weak]
2: lacking clarity or distinctness; "a dim figure in the
distance"; "only a faint recollection"; "shadowy figures in
the gloom"; "saw a vague outline of a building through the
fog"; "a few wispy memories of childhood" [syn: dim,
faint, shadowy, vague, wispy]
3: lacking strength or vigor; "damning with faint praise";
"faint resistance"; "feeble efforts"; "a feeble voice" [syn:
faint, feeble]
4: weak and likely to lose consciousness; "suddenly felt faint
from the pain"; "was sick and faint from hunger"; "felt light
in the head"; "a swooning fit"; "light-headed with wine";
"light-headed from lack of sleep" [syn: faint, light,
swooning, light-headed, lightheaded]
5: indistinctly understood or felt or perceived; "a faint clue
to the origin of the mystery"; "haven't the faintest idea"
6: lacking conviction or boldness or courage; "faint heart ne'er
won fair lady" [syn: faint, fainthearted, timid,
faint-hearted]
n 1: a spontaneous loss of consciousness caused by insufficient
blood to the brain [syn: faint, swoon, syncope,
deliquium]
v 1: pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due
to a loss of blood supply to the brain [syn: faint,
conk, swoon, pass out]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
317 Moby Thesaurus words for "faint":
KO, abulic, achromatic, achromic, afraid, ailing, anemic, ashen,
ashy, asthenic, bad, balmy, barely audible, below par, black out,
blackout, bland, blear, bleared, bleary, bled white, bloodless,
blow, blurred, blurry, break, break down, burn out, cadaverous,
catalepsy, catatonia, catatony, cave in, chicken, chloranemic,
collapse, colorless, coma, come apart, come unstuck, confused,
conk out, cowardly, crack up, crap out, critically ill, crumble,
dark, dead, deadly pale, deathly pale, debilitated, decline,
decrescendo, dim, dimmed, dingy, discolored, disintegrate, distant,
dizziness, dizzy, down, droop, drooping, droopy, drop, dull, dusty,
effete, enervated, enfeebled, etiolated, exsanguinated, exsanguine,
exsanguineous, fade, faded, fagged, fail, faint-voiced,
fainthearted, fainting, faintish, fall senseless, fallow,
faltering, fatigue, fatigued, feeble, feebleminded, feeling awful,
feeling faint, feeling something terrible, filmy, fizzle out,
flabby, flaccid, flag, flagging, flat, flickering, floppy, foggy,
footsore, frail, frazzled, fuzzy, gasp, gentle, get tired, ghastly,
giddy, give out, give way, go downhill, go soft, go to pieces,
gone, good and tired, gray, gray out, grayout, grow weary, gutless,
haggard, half-heard, half-seen, half-visible, hazy, hit the skids,
hueless, hushed, hypochromic, ill, ill-defined, imbecile,
imperceptible, impotent, in danger, inaudible, inconspicuous,
indefinite, indiscernible, indisposed, indistinct,
indistinguishable, infirm, invertebrate, jade, jaded, kayo,
keel over, knockout, lackluster, laid low, languid, languish,
languorous, leaden, lenient, light-headed, limber, limp,
lipothymia, lipothymy, listless, livid, low, low-profile, lurid,
lusterless, lustless, marrowless, mat, mealy, merely glimpsed,
mild, misty, mortally ill, muddy, muffled, murmured, muted, muzzy,
nerveless, neutral, nirvana, nirvana principle, not quite right,
nothingness, oblivion, obliviousness, obscure, off-color,
out of focus, out of sorts, pale, pale as death, pale-faced,
pallid, pant, pass out, pasty, peg out, peter out, pianissimo,
piano, pine, pithless, play out, pliable, poop out, pooped,
powerless, puff, puff and blow, ready to drop, rocky, rubbery,
run down, run out, run ragged, run-down, sagging, sallow, sapless,
scarcely heard, seedy, semiconsciousness, semivisible,
senselessness, shadowy, sick, sick unto death, sickish, sickly,
sinewless, sink, slack, sleep, slight, small, smooth, soft,
soft-sounding, soft-voiced, spineless, stifled, strengthless,
stupor, subaudible, subdued, succumb, swim, swoon, syncope,
taken ill, tallow-faced, thin, tire, tired, tired-winged, toilworn,
toneless, uncertain, unclear, uncolored, unconsciousness,
undefined, under the weather, undetermined, unhardened, unnerved,
unplain, unrecognizable, unrefreshed, unrestored, unsteady,
unstrung, unwell, vague, vertiginous, vertigo, wan, washed-out,
wavering, waxen, way-weary, wayworn, weak, weak-kneed, weak-minded,
weak-voiced, weak-willed, weaken, weakened, weakly, wear away,
wear thin, wearied, weariful, weary, weary-footed, weary-laden,
weary-winged, weary-worn, wheeze, whey-faced, whispered, white,
wilt, wilting, woozy, worn, worn-down, yield