Faint FAINT, a. [L. vanus, whence to vanish. Eng. to wane.]
1. weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, to be rendered faint by excessive evacuations.
2. Weak; feeble; languid; exhausted; as faint with fatigue, hunger or thirst.
3. Weak, as color; not bright or vivid; not strong; as a faint color; a faint red or blue; a faint light.
4. Feeble; weak, as sound; not loud; as a faint sound; a faint voice.
5. Imperfect; feeble; not striking; as a faint resemblance or image.
6. Cowardly; timorous. A faint heart never wins a fair lady.
7. Feeble; not vigorous; not active; as a faint resistance; a faint exertion.
8. Dejected; depressed; dispirited.
My heart is faint. Lam 1.
FAINT, v.i.
1. To lose the animal functions; to lose strength and color, and become senseless and motionless; to swoon; sometimes with away. he fainted for loss of blood.
On hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away.
2. To become feeble; to decline or fail in strength and vigor; to be weak.
If I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way. Mark 8.
3. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit.
Let not your hearts faint. Deu 20.
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Prov 24.
4. To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
Gilded clouds, while we gaze on them, faint before the eye.
FAINT, v.t. To deject; to depress; to weaken. [Unusual.]

faint adj 1: deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc; "a faint outline"; "the wan sun cast faint shadows"; "the faint light of a distant candle"; "weak colors"; "a faint hissing sound"; "a faint aroma"; "a weak pulse" [syn: faint, weak] 2: lacking clarity or distinctness; "a dim figure in the distance"; "only a faint recollection"; "shadowy figures in the gloom"; "saw a vague outline of a building through the fog"; "a few wispy memories of childhood" [syn: dim, faint, shadowy, vague, wispy] 3: lacking strength or vigor; "damning with faint praise"; "faint resistance"; "feeble efforts"; "a feeble voice" [syn: faint, feeble] 4: weak and likely to lose consciousness; "suddenly felt faint from the pain"; "was sick and faint from hunger"; "felt light in the head"; "a swooning fit"; "light-headed with wine"; "light-headed from lack of sleep" [syn: faint, light, swooning, light-headed, lightheaded] 5: indistinctly understood or felt or perceived; "a faint clue to the origin of the mystery"; "haven't the faintest idea" 6: lacking conviction or boldness or courage; "faint heart ne'er won fair lady" [syn: faint, fainthearted, timid, faint-hearted] n 1: a spontaneous loss of consciousness caused by insufficient blood to the brain [syn: faint, swoon, syncope, deliquium] v 1: pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to the brain [syn: faint, conk, swoon, pass out]

faint fanti

faint I. adjective Etymology: Middle English faint, feint, from Anglo-French, from past participle of feindre, faindre to feign, lose heart — more at feign Date: 14th century 1. lacking courage and spirit ; cowardly <faint of heart> 2. weak, dizzy, and likely to faint 3. lacking strength or vigor ; performed, offered, or accomplished weakly or languidly <faint praise> 4. producing a sensation of faintness ; oppressive <the faint atmosphere of a tropical port> 5. a. hardly perceptible ; dim <faint handwriting> b. vague 2a <haven't the faintest idea> • faintish adjective • faintishness noun • faintly adverb • faintness noun II. intransitive verb Date: 14th century 1. archaic to lose courage or spirit 2. archaic to become weak 3. to lose consciousness because of a temporary decrease in the blood supply to the brain III. noun Date: 1792 the physiological action of fainting; also the resulting condition ; syncope 1

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.
Phrases and idioms:
faint-hearted cowardly, timid. faint-heartedly in a faint-hearted manner. faint-heartedness cowardliness, timidity. not have the faintest colloq. have no idea.
Derivatives:
faintness n.
Etymology: ME f. OF, past part. of faindre FEIGN

faint (fainter, faintest, faints, fainting, fainted) 1. A faint sound, colour, mark, feeling, or quality has very little strength or intensity. He became aware of the soft, faint sounds of water dripping... He could see faint lines in her face... There was still the faint hope deep within him that she might never need to know. ADJ: usu ADJ n • faintly He was already asleep in the bed, which smelled faintly of mildew... She felt faintly ridiculous. = slightly ADV: usu ADV after v, also ADV adj 2. A faint attempt at something is one that is made without proper effort and with little enthusiasm. Caroline made a faint attempt at a laugh... A faint smile crossed the Monsignor's face and faded quickly... ADJ: ADJ n • faintly John smiled faintly and shook his head. ADV: ADV after v 3. If you faint, you lose consciousness for a short time, especially because you are hungry, or because of pain, heat, or shock. She suddenly fell forward on to the table and fainted... I thought he'd faint when I kissed him. = pass out VERB: V, V • Faint is also a noun. She slumped to the ground in a faint. N-COUNT: oft in a N 4. Someone who is faint feels weak and unsteady as if they are about to lose consciousness. Other signs of angina are nausea, sweating, feeling faint and shortness of breath. ADJ: v-link ADJ

Faint \Faint\ (f[=a]nt), a. [Compar. Fainter (-[~e]r); superl. Faintest.] [OE. feint, faint, false, faint, F. feint, p. p. of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See Feign, and cf. Feint.] 1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, faint with fatigue, hunger, or thirst. 2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly; dejected; depressed; as, ``Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.'' --Old Proverb. 3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as, a faint color, or sound. 4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts; faint resistance. The faint prosecution of the war. --Sir J. Davies.

Faint \Faint\, v. t. To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to weaken. [Obs.] It faints me to think what follows. --Shak.

Faint \Faint\, n. The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a swoon. [R.] See Fainting, n. The saint, Who propped the Virgin in her faint. --Sir W. Scott.

Faint \Faint\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fainting.] 1. 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. Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away. --Guardian. If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by the way. --Mark viii. 8.

FAINT fant (`ayeph, `uph, ya`aph, `alaph, aTaph, dawway, yaghea`, macac, rakhakh, paghar, kahah; ekluo, ekkakeo, kamno): The Hebrew vocabulary for the depressing physical conditions and mental emotions which are rendered in the King James Version by the English words "faint," "fainthess," and other compounds of that stem, is, as will be seen above, wide and varied in derivation. The 11 Hebrew and 3 Greek words and their derivatives are used in 62 passages in the King James Version to express these conditions. `Ayeph is used to express the exhaustion from fatigue and hunger in the case of Esau (Ge 25:29,30). This and its variants come from a root which primarily means "to cover or conceal," therefore "to be dark or obscure," and so, figuratively, "to be faint or depressed." Israel's helpless state when harassed by Amalek (De 25:18) and the plight of Gideon's weary force when they sought in vain for help at Succoth (Jud 8:4) are described by the same word. Isaiah also uses it to picture the disappointed and unsatisfied appetite of the thirsty man awakening from his dream of refreshment (Isa 29:8). In 2Sa 16:14, `ayephim is probably a proper name of a place (Revised Version, margin). `Uph in 1Sa 14:28-31 describes the exhaustion of Saul's host in pursuit of the Philistines after the battle of Michmash. The same word expresses the failure of David's strength when in conflict with the same foes, which led to his imminent peril and to the consequent refusal of the commander of his army to allow him to take part personally in the combat (2Sa 21:15). Ya`-aph is used by Ziba when he brought refreshments to David's men on the flight from Absalom (2Sa 16:2); see also its use in Isa 40:28. Cognate verbal forms occur in Isa 40:30,31; Jer 2:24; 51:58,64; Hab 2:13, as also in Jud 8:15, meaning in all cases the faintness or exhaustion of fatigue or weariness. `Alpah expresses the faintness from thirst in Am 8:13, or from the heat of the sun (Jon 4:8), and figuratively, the despondency which was the result of the captivity (Isa 51:20). Ezekiel uses it allegorically as describing the withering of the trees for grief at the death of the Assyrian kings (Eze 31:15). `ATaph is the weariness of the wanderers in the desert (Ps 107:5), the faintness from hunger (La 2:19), or the despondency of Jonah dispelled by his remembrance of God's mercies (Jon 2:7). Dawway, from a root which signifies the sickness produced by exhaustion from loss of blood, is used in Isa 1:5 for the faintness of heart, the result of remorse for sin, and in Jer 8:18 for the prophet's sorrow for the sins of Israel. A cognate form expresses his sorrow on account of the judgments of God which were incurred as punishments for the national backsliding (La 1:13,12; 5:17). Macac, literally, "dissolving or melting," is applied to the contagious fear which the example of a cowardly soldier produces among his comrades (De 20:8, the Revised Version (British and American) "melt"). In the remarkable passage in Isa 10:18, in which God pronounces the doom of Assyria when his purposes of chastisement on Israel have been fulfilled, the collapse of Assyria is said to be "as when a standard-bearer fainteth." For this the Revised Version, margin substitutes "as when a sick man pineth away," which is probably the correct rendering. The word macac may mean either a sick man, or else something glittering and seen from afar, such as a standard, but the former sense is more intelligible and suggestive in the context. The rarely used verbal form cognate to macac is used on account of its assonance. Yaghea` (yagha`), which is usually translated "grieved" or "tormented" or "fatigued," is rendered as "fainted" in Jer 45:3. This passage, "I fainted in my sighing" the King James Version, is in Hebrew the same as that which reads, "I am weary with my groaning" in Ps 6:6, and is similarly rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). Rakhakh, like macac, primarily signifies "to melt" or "to become soft," and is used in prophetic exhortations in which the people are encouraged not to be panic-stricken in the presence of enemies (De 20:3, and also Jer 51:46; Isa 7:4). Another related word, morekh, in the sense of despair and utter loss of courage, is used in expressing the consequences of God's wrath against Israel (Le 26:36). In its literal sense it signifies "blandness," as of the words of a hypocritical enemy (Ps 55:21). Paghar is the prostration of utter fatigue whereby one is unable to raise himself or to proceed on a journey, as were some of David's little band (1Sa 30:10-21). A cognate word describes the prostration of amazement and incredulity with which Jacob heard of Joseph's condition in Egypt (Ge 45:26). Kahah, the pining of earnest, longing desire, is translated "fainteth" in Ps 84:2; 119:81; elsewhere it is rendered by words expressing wasting or languishing. The panic in Canaan due to famine is expressed (Ge 47:13) by the word lahah, which implies a state of frenzy. The only records of actual fainting are (1) Daniel, in Da 8:27, where the word used is the Niphal of the verb hayah, literally, "became," meaning that he became weak; (2) swooning is mentioned in Additions to Esther 5:7-14. In the New Testament "faint" is used in the sense of physical exhaustion (Mt 9:36 the King James Version; Mt 15:32; Mr 8:3), where it is part of the verb ekluo, "to relax." Otherwise it is used figuratively of discouragement of spirit. The same verb is used in Ga 6:9; Heb 12:3,5; but in Lu 18:1; 2Co 4:1-16; Eph 3:13 it is part of the verb ekkakeo (according to some authorities egkakeo, pronounced enkakeo, meaning "to be faint-hearted" or "to be culpably negligent"). In Re 2:3 it is kopiao, literally, "to be tired." Alexander Macalister

faint I. v. n. 1. Swoon, faint away. 2. Languish, fail, fade, grow weak, fail in vigor, lose strength. 3. Be disheartened, be discouraged, be dejected, be depressed, lose courage, be dispirited, be down-hearted, sink into dejection. II. a. 1. Swooning, fainting away. 2. Weak, feeble, drooping, exhausted, languid. 3. Small, little, slight, inconsiderable. 4. Dim, dull, slight, indistinct, scarce perceptible, almost imperceptible. 5. Fearful, timid, timorous, cowardly, dastardly, faint-hearted. 6. Dejected, depressed, dispirited, disheartened, discouraged.

faint feɪnt adj. 1 dim, dull, pale, faded, indistinct, vague, hazy, imperceptible, indiscernible, unclear, blurred, blurry, muzzy, wavering, faltering, ill-defined, weak, feeble, flickering, subdued; low, soft, slight, hushed, muffled, muted, inaudible, stifled: A faint light burned in the corridor. I heard a faint noise. 2 dizzy, light-headed, unsteady, vertiginous, giddy, Colloq woozy: I felt faint after climbing the stairs. --v. 3 black out, pass out, lose consciousness, swoon, drop, collapse, Colloq keel over: She fainted when they told her the news. --n. 4 loss of consciousness, blackout, unconsciousness, collapse, swoon, Medicine syncope: He dropped in a dead faint.

317 Moby Thesaurus words for "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

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