faint
faint [faint faints fainted fainting fainter faintest] adjective, verb, noun BrE [feɪnt] NAmE [feɪnt]
adjective (faint·er, faint·est)
1. that cannot be clearly seen, heard or smelt
•a faint glow/glimmer/light
•a faint smell of perfume
• We saw the faint outline of the mountain through the mist.
• We could hear their voices growing fainter as they walked down the road.
•His breathing became faint.
2. very small; possible but unlikely
Syn: ↑slight
• There is still a faint hope that she may be cured.
• They don't have the faintest chance of winning.
3. not enthusiastic
•a faint show of resistance
•a faint smile
4. not before noun feeling weak and tired and likely to become unconscious
• She suddenly felt faint.
• The walkers were faint from hunger.
more at damn sb/sth with faint praise at ↑damn v.
Word Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘feigned’, also ‘feeble, cowardly’, surviving in ↑faint-hearted): from Old French faint, past participle of faindre, from Latin fingere ‘mould, contrive’. Compare with ↑feint.
Thesaurus:
faint adj.
1.
•There was a faint glimmer of light from her window.
dim • • weak • • soft • |literary thin •
Opp: bright
faint/dim/weak/soft/thin light
a faint/dim/soft glow
a faint/dim outline
Dim, faint or weak? Dim describes light in a room or place when it is not bright enough to see clearly; faint describes a particular point of light that is hard to see; weak usually describes sunlight that is not bright.
2.
•Their voices grew fainter as they walked down the road.
quiet • • soft • • muffled • • inaudible • |written dull •
a/an faint/quiet/soft/muffled/inaudible voice
a faint/quiet/soft/muffled/dull sound
a faint/soft/muffled/dull noise/thud/thump
3. not before noun
•The walkers were faint from hunger.
light-headed • • dizzy •
faint/light-headed/dizzy from/with sth
feel faint/light-headed/dizzy
Faint or light-headed? People usually feel faint from weakness, pain or fear; they feel light-headed from weakness, alcohol or happiness.
Example Bank:
•I can't make out the number— it's very faint.
•I was beginning to feel a little faint.
•I was faint with hunger.
•The whispers grew fainter and fainter, then stopped altogether.
•The faint glow of a match shone through the doorway.
•There was a faint glimmer of light from her window.
•What he saw made him feel faint with fear.
Idiom: ↑not have the faintest
Derived Word: ↑faintly
verb intransitive
to become unconscious when not enough blood is going to your brain, usually because of the heat, a shock, etc.
Syn: ↑pass out
•to faint from hunger
• Suddenly the woman in front of me fainted.
• I'm nearly fainting with the heat in here.
• (informal)I almost fainted (= I was very surprised) when she told me.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘feigned’, also ‘feeble, cowardly’, surviving in ↑faint-hearted): from Old French faint, past participle of faindre, from Latin fingere ‘mould, contrive’. Compare with ↑feint.
Thesaurus:
faint verb I
•I almost fainted from lack of air.
pass out • • collapse • |informal drop •
faint/pass out/collapse/drop from exhaustion/hunger/loss of blood/teh heat, etc.
Faint or pass out? People faint because not enough blood is going to the brain. They can pass out for this reason, or because they have been hit on the head or because they are drunk.
Example Bank:
•He was so pale she thought he was going to faint.
•He would faint at the sight of blood.
•She almost fainted with shock.
•She fainted from lack of air.
•Almost fainting from lack of air, she could only answer in choked gasps.
•I almost fainted when she told me.
•She thought she would faint from sheer happiness.
noun singular
the state of becoming unconscious
• He fell to the ground in a dead faint.
Word Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘feigned’, also ‘feeble, cowardly’, surviving in ↑faint-hearted): from Old French faint, past participle of faindre, from Latin fingere ‘mould, contrive’. Compare with ↑feint.
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