English Explanatory Dictionary

faint

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
  2. Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected.
  3. Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp.
  4. Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy.
  5. Slight; minimal.
  6. Sickly, so as to make a person feel faint.
noun
  1. The act of fainting, syncope.
  2. The state of one who has fainted; a swoon.
verb
  1. 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).
  2. To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
  3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish.

Pronunciation

/feɪnt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-feint.wav En-us-faint.ogg

Word forms

faint fainter faintest feint faints fainting fainted

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.

Synonyms

dizzy dull wan bland colourless dim dingy faint lackluster leaden muddy sad sober uncolorful unholiday remote queal pass out swoon sweb black out keel over

Derived words

damn with faint praise fainten faint-heart faintheart faint-hearted fainthearted faint heart never won fair lady 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

Bulgarian: неясен Bulgarian: неотчетлив Catalan: feble Catalan: tènue Czech: slabý Czech: sotva patrný Czech: chabý Czech: vlažný Czech: nepřesvědčivý Dutch: zwak Finnish: hämärä Finnish: vaimea Finnish: heikko French: faible German: unsicher German: unentschlossen Greek: αχνός Hebrew: כהה Hindi: फीका Icelandic: daufur Italian: incerto Italian: indistinto Italian: tenue Italian: debole Japanese: かすか Japanese: 淡い Japanese: 弱々しい Korean: 흐릿하다 Korean: 가냘프다 Māori: tōriki Māori: tōririki Māori: muhani Māori: makaro Māori: hīrea Māori: whekowheko Occitan: feble Occitan: flac Portuguese: tênue Romanian: slab Romanian: estompat Russian: ту́склый Russian: вя́лый Spanish: tenue Spanish: apagado Spanish: mortecino Spanish: apenas perceptible Spanish: apenas visible Spanish: leve Spanish: apocado Spanish: lánguido Swedish: svag Ukrainian: тьмя́ний Māori: tirehe
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