What does fainted mean?
"Fainted" is the simple past tense and past participle of the verb "faint", meaning that someone lost consciousness suddenly and briefly, most often because of a temporary drop in blood flow to the brain. People faint for many reasons: heat, dehydration, shock, pain, hunger, emotional distress, or standing up too quickly. The word carries a slightly literary flavor compared with the more colloquial "passed out", which can also refer to drunken sleep, whereas "fainted" is reserved for genuine brief loss of consciousness. A second, now largely archaic sense means to grow weak or disheartened, as when soldiers "fainted" under hardship — a usage preserved mainly in older literature and scripture. Common collocations include "she nearly fainted", "he fainted dead away", and "fainted at the sight of blood". Writers should be careful to distinguish it from "feinted", which describes a deceptive movement rather than a collapse.
verb (past tense and past participle of 'faint')The simple past tense and past participle of the verb 'faint', meaning to lose consciousness suddenly for a short time, typically due to a drop in blood flow to the brain.
- To have lost consciousness briefly and suddenly, usually because of insufficient blood flow to the brain (past tense/past participle of 'faint').
- (Archaic/literary) To have grown weak, feeble, or discouraged; to have lost heart or energy.
"She fainted from the heat while waiting in the long queue outside the courthouse."
"He fainted during the school assembly after standing in the sun for over an hour."
"The soldiers fainted not from their wounds but from sheer exhaustion."
In Victorian novels, heroines fainted on practically every other page — a plot device so common it became a cliché that modern writers still lovingly parody.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fainted
"Fainted" derives from the verb "faint", which came into English from Old French "feint", the past participle of "feindre", meaning to shrink from, avoid, or feign weakness. That French verb traces back to Latin "fingere", meaning to shape or form, the same root behind "feign" and "feint". The original sense involved shrinking back or becoming weak, which narrowed over time to mean losing consciousness — a shift well established by the late Middle Ages. Its cousins "feign" (to pretend) and "feint" (a deceptive move) preserve the Latin root's other branches.
Related word forms
How fainted is actually used
Standard register — appropriate in both formal and informal contexts. The archaic sense of growing weak or losing courage survives mainly in literary or biblical language ('they fainted under the burden'). In everyday speech, 'fainted' refers almost exclusively to brief loss of consciousness; prolonged unconsciousness is described with 'collapsed into a coma' or similar phrasing instead.
Easily confused with fainted
'Feinted' is the past tense of 'feint', meaning made a deceptive or pretend movement, especially in sport or combat, whereas 'fainted' means lost consciousness.