Faint, a. [Compar. Fainter (-r); superl. Faintest.]
Etymology: [OE. faint, feint, false, faint, F. feint, p.p. of feindre to feign, suppose, hesitate. See Faign, and cf. Feint.]
Monet painted the river in mist. Everything is faint: dim, soft, hard to make out.
Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist), Claude Monet, 1897. Art Institute of Chicago.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.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
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, 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.
2. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Prov. xxiv. 10.
3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish. Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye. Pope.
Faint, v. t.
To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress; to weaken. [Obs.] It faints me to think what follows. Shak.
Shades of meaning
Faint, with the general sense of lacking strength or effectiveness, covers a wide range of meaning, signifying overcome with physical weakness or exhaustion, or lacking in purpose, courage, or energy, as said of persons; or lacking definiteness or distinctness of color or sound, as said of written characters, voices, or musical notes. A person may be faint when physically wearied, or when overcome with fear; he may be a faint adherent because naturally feeble or purposeless, or because half-hearted in the cause; he may be a faltering supporter because naturally irresolute or because faint-hearted and timid in view of perils that threaten, a listless worker, through want of mental energy and purpose. Written characters may be faint or dim, either because originally written with poor ink, or because they have become faded by time and exposure.
Prepositions
Faint with hunger; faint in color.