| / English Dictionary |
FAINT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A spontaneous loss of consciousness caused by insufficient blood to the brain
Synonyms:
deliquium; faint; swoon; syncope
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("faint" is a kind of...):
loss of consciousness (the occurrence of a loss of the ability to perceive and respond)
Derivation:
faint (pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to the brain)
faint (weak and likely to lose consciousness)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Lacking conviction or boldness or courage
Example:
faint heart ne'er won fair lady
Synonyms:
faint; faint-hearted; fainthearted; timid
Classified under:
Similar:
cowardly; fearful (lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted)
Derivation:
faintness (the trait of lacking boldness and courage)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Lacking clarity or distinctness
Example:
a few wispy memories of childhood
Synonyms:
dim; faint; shadowy; vague; wispy
Classified under:
Similar:
indistinct (not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand)
Derivation:
faintness (the quality of being dim or lacking contrast)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Indistinctly understood or felt or perceived
Example:
haven't the faintest idea
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
indistinct (not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
Example:
a weak pulse
Synonyms:
faint; weak
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
perceptible (capable of being perceived by the mind or senses)
Derivation:
faintness (the quality of being dim or lacking contrast)
faintness (barely audible)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Lacking strength or vigor
Example:
a feeble voice
Synonyms:
faint; feeble
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
weak (wanting in physical strength)
Derivation:
faintness (the property of being without strength)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Weak and likely to lose consciousness
Example:
light-headed from lack of sleep
Synonyms:
faint; light; light-headed; lightheaded; swooning
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
ill; sick (affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function)
Derivation:
faint (a spontaneous loss of consciousness caused by insufficient blood to the brain)
faintness (a feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they faint ... he / she / it faints
Past simple: fainted
Past participle: fainted
-ing form: fainting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to the brain
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "faint" is one way to...):
black out; pass out; zonk out (lose consciousness due to a sudden trauma, for example)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
faint (a spontaneous loss of consciousness caused by insufficient blood to the brain)
Context examples:
Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Fainting is usually nothing to worry about, but it can sometimes be a sign of a serious problem.
(Fainting, NIH)
Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) Cardiovascular symptoms; tachycardia, palpitations, pain in chest, throbbing of vessels, fainting feelings, missing beat.
(HAMA - Cardiovascular Symptoms, NCI Thesaurus)
Low blood pressure is a problem only if it causes dizziness, fainting or in extreme cases, shock.
(Low Blood Pressure, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and laid him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow as if he were almost fainting.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
I’m fainting—I’m gone!
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He was dizzy, sick, faint, but he must not die, and he must not tarry, for his life meant many lives that day.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Jim sprang after it, and I was left half-fainting in the moonlight.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At the horror of these sights and sounds, the maid fainted.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The Martian surface is extremely quiet, allowing SEIS, InSight's specially designed seismometer, to pick up faint rumbles.
(NASA's InSight Detects First Likely 'Quake' on Mars, NASA)
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