What does faint mean?
Faint functions primarily as an adjective describing something so weak, dim, or indistinct that it is barely perceptible — a faint smell of smoke, a faint glow on the horizon, a faint memory of a childhood summer. It can also describe a person who feels weak or dizzy and near collapse, as in feeling faint after standing up too quickly. As a verb, faint means to lose consciousness briefly, usually because of heat, shock, hunger, or a sudden drop in blood pressure, and the related noun denotes such a lapse into unconsciousness, often called a dead faint. The word carries a quiet, subdued connotation: whatever it modifies is present but only just detectable. In the fixed expression not for the faint of heart, it retains an older sense meaning cowardly or easily discouraged, warning that something demands courage or endurance. Derived forms include faintly and faintness.
Barely perceptible; weak, dim, or indistinct in quality or intensity.
"He heard a faint tapping at the window."
Common with sensory nouns: light, sound, smell, hope, memory.
(Of a person) feeling weak and dizzy, likely to lose consciousness; also, timid or lacking courage (now chiefly in 'faint of heart').
"She went faint at the sight of blood."
To lose consciousness temporarily, typically from a drop in blood pressure, heat, pain, or strong emotion.
"Several fans fainted during the crowded concert."
Often followed by 'away': 'he fainted away'.
An act or instance of losing consciousness briefly.
"She collapsed in a dead faint."
"Faint" and "feint" come from the same French root meaning "to pretend" — so a faint hope and a feigned excuse are distant cousins.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of faint
Faint comes from the Old French feint, the past participle of feindre, meaning 'to shirk, avoid, or pretend', which itself derives from Latin fingere, 'to shape or feign'. The original English sense, recorded in Middle English around the fourteenth century, was 'cowardly or timid', and the physical sense of weakness and dimness developed from that notion of shrinking or giving way. It shares this Latin root with words like feign and fiction, making it etymologically kin to the idea of pretence rather than mere weakness.
Related word forms
How faint is actually used
As an adjective, 'faint' describes things perceived weakly — sounds, smells, lights, hopes, memories. Applied to people, it usually signals dizziness or impending collapse. The phrase 'faint of heart' (often negative: 'not for the faint of heart') is the standard surviving use of its older sense meaning timid or cowardly. As a noun, it usually appears in phrases like 'in a dead faint'. Register is neutral across all senses.
Easily confused with faint
'Faint' means weak or dim (or to lose consciousness); 'feint' is a noun/verb meaning a deceptive or pretended move, especially in fencing or war.