Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

faint

/feɪnt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.78 in modern English

Syllables: faint
IPA: /feɪnt/

8

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness

adj

Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected.

adj

Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp.

adj

Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy.

adj

Slight; minimal.

adj

Sickly, so as to make a person feel faint.

Archaic

noun

The act of fainting, syncope.

noun

The state of one who has fainted; a swoon.

Example Sentences

"I felt faint after my fifth gin and tonic."
"He almost fell faint due to the hot climate."
"Faint heart ne'er won fair lady."
"There was a faint red light in the distance."
"faint efforts"
"faint resistance"

Etymology

From Middle English faynt, feynt (“weak; feeble”), from Old French faint, feint (“feigned; negligent; sluggish”), past participle of feindre, faindre (“to feign; sham; work negligently”), from Latin fingere (“to touch, handle, form, shape, frame, form in thought, imagine, conceive, contrive, devise, feign”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold”). Cognate with feign and fiction and more distantly dough.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: faynt, faint, fingo, *dʰeyǵʰ-, fainten

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /feɪnt/
British English: /feɪnt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

fainter (comparative) faintest (superlative) feint (alternative) faints (plural) faints (present, singular) fainting (participle, present) fainted (participle, past) fainted (past)

Derived Forms

fainten faintheart fainthearted fainthood faintish faintling faintly faintness faintward forfaint overfaint ultrafaint

Phrases

damn with faint praise faint-heart faint-hearted faint heart never won fair lady faint heart never won fair maiden faint of heart praise with faint damns fainting goat

Synonyms

dizzy dull wan bland colourless dim dingy faint lackluster leaden muddy sad

Homonyms

feint

Rhymes With

ain't paint saint complaint restraint constraint quaint taint repaint feint acquaint can't

Questions

How do you pronounce faint?: The recorded pronunciation is /feɪnt/.
What does faint mean?: Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
Where does faint come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce faint

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