faint
faint
/feɪnt/
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.
I can't make out the number—it's very faint.
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.
Collocations
verbs
adverb
2 very small; possible but unlikely
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
She suddenly felt faint.
The walkers were faint from hunger.
What he saw made him feel faint with fear.
I was faint with hunger.
I was beginning to feel a little faint.
Collocations
verbs
adverb
preposition
Idioms
faint
/feɪnt/
to become unconscious when not enough blood is going to your brain, usually because of the heat, a shock, etc.
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.
He was so pale she thought he was going to faint.
He would faint at the sight of blood.
She almost fainted with shock.
Almost fainting from lack of air, she could only answer in choked gasps.
She thought she would faint from sheer happiness.
Collocations
adverb
verb + faint
be about to
be going to
preposition
faint
/feɪnt/
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.
e.g.