faint
Noun · Verb · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (6)fainter, faintest
- 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”Synonyms: weakOpposite imperceptibleSimilar perceptible
- 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”Synonyms: dimshadowyvaguewispyOpposite distinctSimilar indistinct
- lacking strength or vigor“damning with faint praise”“faint resistance”“feeble efforts”“a feeble voice”Synonyms: feebleOpposite strongSimilar weak
- 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”Synonyms: lightswooninglight-headedlightheadedOpposite wellSimilar ill, sick
- indistinctly understood or felt or perceived“a faint clue to the origin of the mystery”“haven't the faintest idea”Opposite distinctSimilar indistinct
- lacking conviction or boldness or courage“faint heart ne'er won fair lady”Synonyms: faintheartedtimidfaint-heartedOpposite braveSimilar cowardly, fearful
Verb (1)faints, fainted, fainting
Noun (1)faints
- a spontaneous loss of consciousness caused by insufficient blood to the brainSynonyms: swoonsyncopedeliquiumType of loss of consciousness
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Verb to lose consciousness
- Spanish
- desmayarse
- French
- s'évanouir
- Italian
- svenire
- Portuguese
- desmaiar
- Turkish
- bayılmak
- Russian
- па́дать в о́бморок pádatʹ v óbmorok
- Arabic
- أُغْمِيَ عَلَيْهِ ʔuḡmiya ʕalayhi
- Chinese
- 昏倒 hūndǎo
- Dutch
- flauwvallen
- Polish
- mdleć
19 more languages
- Swedish
- svimma
- Indonesian
- pingsan
- Vietnamese
- ngất
- Hungarian
- elájul
- Portuguese (PT)
- desmaiar
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 昏倒 hūndǎo
- Albanian
- zalit
- Czech
- omdlít
- Danish
- besvime
- Esperanto
- sveni
- Finnish
- pyörtyä
- Hebrew
- הִתְעַלֵּף hit'aléf
- Icelandic
- líða yfir
- Lithuanian
- nualpti
- Norwegian
- besvime
- Romanian
- leșina
- Scottish Gaelic
- rach an neul
- Walloon
- toumer flåwe
- Yiddish
- חלשן khaleshn
Noun the act of fainting
- Spanish
- desmayo
- French
- évanouissement
- German
- Ohnmacht
- Italian
- svenimento
- Portuguese
- desmaio
- Turkish
- bayılma
- Russian
- о́бморок óbmorok
- Arabic
- إِغْمَاء ʔiḡmāʔ
- Chinese
- 昏厥 hūnjué
- Japanese
- 失神 shisshin
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.
2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly; dejected; depressed; as, “Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.” Old Proverb.
3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as, a faint color, or sound.
4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts; faint resistance.
The faint prosecution of the war.— Sir John Davies
The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a swoon. rare See Fainting, noun
The saint, Who propped the Virgin in her faint.— Sir Walter Scott
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, noun
Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away.— Guardian, The
If I send them away fasting... they will faint by the way.— Mark viii. 8.
2. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.— Prov. xxiv. 10.
3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.— Alexander Pope
To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to weaken. obsolete
It faints me to think what follows.— William Shakespeare
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54