Faint

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Faint, a. [OE. feint, faint, false, faint, F. feint, p. p. of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See Feign, and cf. Feint.].

•  Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, faint with fatigue, hunger, or thirst.  [1913 Webster]
•  Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly; dejected; depressed; as, “Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.”  Old Proverb.  [1913 Webster]
•  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]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]

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."  [1913 Webster]

Faint, v. i. 

•  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."  [1913 Webster]

  "If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by the way."  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  To decay; to disappear; to vanish.  [1913 Webster]

  "Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye."  [1913 Webster]

Faint, v. t. 

 To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to weaken.  [1913 Webster]
"It faints me to think what follows."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Faint, adj., v., & n.
--adj.
1 indistinct, pale, dim; not clearly perceived.
2 (of a person) weak or giddy; inclined to faint.
3 slight, remote, inadequate (a faint chance).
4 feeble, half-hearted (faint praise).
5 timid (a faint heart).
6 (also feint) (of ruled paper) with inconspicuous lines to guide writing.
--v.intr.
1 lose consciousness.
2 become faint.
--n. a sudden loss of consciousness; fainting.

Idiom

faint-hearted cowardly, timid. faint-heartedly in a faint-hearted manner. faint-heartedness cowardliness, timidity. not have the faintest colloq. have no idea.

Derivative

faintness n.

Etymology

ME f. OF, past part. of faindre FEIGN

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Faint

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Fatigue

VB be fatigued, yawn, droop, sink, flag, lose breath, lose wind, gasp, pant, puff, blow, drop, swoon, faint, succumb, fatigue, tire, weary, irk, flag, jade, harass, exhaust, knock up, wear out, prostrate, tax, task, strain, overtask, overwork, overburden, overtax, overstrain.

N fatigue, weariness, yawning, drowsiness, lassitude, tiredness, fatigation, exhaustion, sweat, dyspnoea, anhelation, shortness of breath, faintness, collapse, prostration, swoon, fainting, deliquium, syncope, lipothymy, goneness, fatigued, tired, weary, drowsy, drooping, haggard, toilworn, wayworn:, footsore, surbated, weather-beaten, faint, done up, used up, knocked up, bushed, exhausted, prostrate, spent, overtired, overspent, overfatigued, unrefreshed, unrestored, worn, worn out, battered, shattered, pulled down, seedy, altered, breathless, windless, short of breath, out of breath, short of wind, blown, puffing and blowing, short-breathed, anhelose, broken winded, short-winded, dyspnaeal, dyspnaeic, ready to drop, all in, more dead than alive, dog-weary, walked off one's legs, tired to death, on one's last legs, played out, hors de combat, fatiguing, tiresome, irksome, wearisome, weary, trying.

Impotence

VB be impotent, not have a leg to stand on, vouloir rompre l'anguille au genou, vouloir prendre la lune avec les dents, collapse, faint, swoon, fall into a swoon, drop, go by the board, go by the wayside, go up in smoke, end in smoke, render powerless, deprive of power, disable, disenable, disarm, incapacitate, disqualify, unfit, invalidate, deaden, cramp, tie the hands, double up, prostrate, paralyze, muzzle, cripple, becripple, maim, lame, hamstring, draw the teeth of, throttle, strangle, garrotte, garrote, ratten, silence, sprain, clip the wings of, put hors de combat, spike the guns, take the wind out of one's sails, scotch the snake, put a spoke in one's wheel, break the neck, break the back, unhinge, unfit, put out of gear, unman, unnerve, enervate, emasculate, castrate, geld, alter, neuter, sterilize, fix, shatter, exhaust, weaken.

Weakness

N weakness, debility, atony, relaxation, languor, enervation, impotence, infirmity, effeminacy, feminality, fragility, flaccidity, inactivity, anaemia, bloodlessness, deficiency of blood, poverty of blood, declension of strength, loss of strength, failure of strength, delicacy, invalidation, decrepitude, asthenia, adynamy, cachexy, cachexia, sprain, strain, reed, thread, rope of sand, house of cards, softling, weakling, infant, youth, weak, feeble, debile, impotent, relaxed, unnerved sapless, strengthless, powerless, weakly, unstrung, flaccid, adynamic, asthenic, nervous, soft, effeminate, feminate, womanly, frail, fragile, shattery, flimsy, unsubstantial, insubstantial, gimcrack, gingerbread, rickety, creaky, creaking, cranky, craichy, drooping, tottering, broken, lame, withered, shattered, shaken, crazy, shaky, palsied, decrepit, languid, poor, infirm, faint, faintish, sickly, dull, slack, evanid, spent, short-winded, effete, weather-beaten, decayed, rotten, worn, seedy, languishing, wasted, washy, laid low, pulled down, the worse for wear, unstrengthened, unsupported, unaided, unassisted, aidless, defenseless, cantilevered (support), on its last legs, weak as a child, weak as a baby, weak as a chicken, weak as a cat, weak as a rat, weak as water, weak as water gruel, weak as gingerbread, weak as milk and water, colorless, non sum qualis eram.

Faintness

N faintness, faint sound, whisper, breath, undertone, underbreath, murmur, hum, susurration, tinkle, still small voice, hoarseness, raucity, inaudible, scarcely audible, just audible, low, dull, stifled, muffled, hoarse, husky, gentle, soft, faint, floating, purling, flowing, whispered, liquid, soothing, dulcet, susurrant, susurrous, in a whisper, with bated breath, sotto voce, between the teeth, aside, piano, pianissimo, d la sourdine, out of earshot inaudibly, (ii) SPECIFIC SOUNDS.

Dimness

N dimness, darkness, paleness, half light, demi-jour, partial shadow, partial eclipse, shadow of a shade, glimmer, gliming, nebulosity, cloud, eclipse, aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut time, break of day, daybreak, dawn, moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade, moonshine, starlight, owl's light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight, farthing candle, dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams, dark, faint, shadowed forth, glassy, cloudy, misty, blear, muggy, fuliginous, nebulous, nebular, obnubilated, overcast, crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty, looming, pale, confused.

Achromatism

N achromatism, decoloration, discoloration, pallor, pallidness, pallidity, paleness, etiolation, neutral tint, monochrome, black and white, uncolored &c (color), colorless, achromatic, aplanatic, etiolate, etiolated, hueless, pale, pallid, palefaced, tallow-faced, faint, dull, cold, muddy, leaden, dun, wan, sallow, dead, dingy, ashy, ashen, ghastly, cadaverous, glassy, lackluster, discolored, light-colored, fair, blond, white, pale as death, pale as ashes, pale as a witch, pale as a ghost, pale as a corpse, white as a corpse.