faintfaint1 /feɪnt/ ●●○ adjective 
She gave a faint smile. a very faint noise the faint light of dawn► see thesaurus at quiet2a faint hope/possibility/chance etc a very small or slight hope etc: a faint hope that they might be alive3not have the faintest idea to not know anything at all about something: I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about.4feeling weak and as if you are about to become unconscious because you are very ill, tired, or hungry: The heat made him feel quite faint.faint with I was faint with hunger.—faintly adverb: Everyone looked faintly surprised. The sun shone faintly through the clouds.—faintness noun [uncountable] → damn somebody/something with faint praise at damn4(6)
WORD ORIGINfaint1
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French faindre, feindre ‘to pretend’; ➔ FEIGNEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- I could just make out the faint outline of the cliffs.
- Jean opened the window, and heard the faint sound of the bells drifting across the Old Town.
- On the wall you could see the faint outline of where a picture had once hung.
- The men went away, and we could hear their voices get fainter and fainter.
- There was silence for a moment as they held each other's eyes, broken only by the faint sound of dance music from down below.
- There were a few faint pencil lines on the page.
- We heard a faint noise coming from the room.
- A second set of shadows appeared; at first long and faint, they shortened and sharpened rapidly.
- Before she got there, however, there was a faint cracking from the surrounding darkness.
- Far down the inverted telescope he saw the faint white figure of May Welland-in New York.
- For a moment she looked quite faint, but with a great effort she stood her ground.
- He could not resist a faint smile creeping over his face.
- Immediately four faint, narrow lines appeared, bracketing a tiny and undistinguished star.
- M56 is not at all prominent, but shows up as a faint patch of light.
- Then Freitag made a faint gesture to his partner, who put away his pen and notebook.
THESAURUSa quiet sound or voice
not making a loud sound: · I heard a quiet voice behind me.· a car with a quiet engine
quiet – especially because you do not want people to hear or be disturbed: · Doug was on the phone, speaking in a low voice.· I turned the volume down low.
quiet and pleasant to listen to: · Soft music was playing in the background.· His voice was soft and gentle.
not making any sound at all: · a silent prayer· silent laughter· The machines were virtually silent.
deliberately quiet because you do not want people to hear – used about people’s voices: · They were talking about money in hushed tones.· The doctor’s voice was hushed and urgent.
quiet and difficult to hear because it comes from a long way away: · The men went ahead and their voices got fainter and fainter.· the faint sound of bells
difficult to hear, for example because the sound comes from another room or someone’s mouth is covered by something: · Muffled voices were coming from downstairs.· the muffled sound of someone crying
[only before noun] a dull sound is not loud – used especially about the sound of something hitting another thing: · He hit the ground with a dull thud.
too quiet to hear: · The sound is inaudible to the human ear.· Her answer came in an almost inaudible whisper.
Longman Language Activatornot easy to see clearly · I'll try and read this, but the handwriting's pretty unclear.· The photos were not very clear.
a picture, shape, image etc that is faint is unclear because it is a long way away, there is not enough light, or it was very lightly drawn: · There were a few faint pencil lines on the page.faint outline: · On the wall you could see the faint outline of where a picture had once hung.
unclear so that only the general shape can be seen, and not small details: · Without my glasses, anything more than a few feet away looks blurred.· All I have to remind me of Albert are a few letters and a blurred photo.
a photograph, television picture etc that is fuzzy is not clear, and it is difficult to see separate edges and objects, often because there is something wrong with your equipment or with the way the pictures were taken: · Police have only a fuzzy videotape of the bank robbery.· a fuzzy snapshot
a view that is hazy is not clear because there is a slight mist caused by heat, smoke etc: · The view to the west was hazy.hazy with: · The room was hazy with smoke.
to feel ill British /feel sick American · "Do you feel ill, darling?'' asked Rosie anxiously.· I was feeling ill, so I went home.· Mark said he felt sick, so I've made an appointment with the doctor.
also not feel too good, also not feel good American informal to feel slightly ill: · If you don't feel well the best thing to do is to stay in bed.· "I don't feel very well,'' said Jamie, suddenly going very pale.· Ben's not feeling good this morning. I think it's something he ate.· No, I don't think I'll be coming out tonight. I'm not feeling too good.
spoken informal to feel slightly ill - use this especially when you do not know what is wrong with you: · I felt a bit funny and dizzy, and then the next thing I knew I was lying on the floor.
British spoken to feel ill: · Don't get up if you're feeling rough - I'll bring you some breakfast in bed.· Liz said she was feeling pretty rough yesterday -- I don't think she'll come to work today.
British /feel sick to your stomach American to feel as if you are going to vomit (=bring food up from your stomach): · We'd only been in the car two minutes when David said he felt sick.· When I was pregnant, the smell of coffee made me feel sick to my stomach.
informal feeling weak and tired as a result of illness or drugs: · You shouldn't drive after taking these pills. They're likely to make you feel groggy.groggy from: · I went to see Sally in hospital, but she was still groggy from the anaesthetic.
to feel very weak and as if you are going to become unconscious: · It was a very hot day, and I suddenly felt faint and sick.· If at any time you feel faint or nauseous, stop taking the tablets.
words for describing music, sounds, or voices that are quiet quiet sounds, voices, or music are not loud: · He spoke in a quiet yet confident voice.· There was a quiet knock at the door.
a low voice or sound is quiet and deep: · A low humming noise was coming from the refrigerator.in a low voice (=speaking quietly): · 'Take care,' he said in a low voice.
soft sounds, voices, or music are quiet, gentle, and pleasant: · He spoke with a soft Irish accent.· a whisper so soft that I could scarcely hear it· With candlelight and soft music, you can create a romantic atmosphere in your own home.
muffled voices or sounds are quiet and unclear, especially because they come from behind a wall or door: · We heard muffled shouts and screams from the bar below.· His voice was muffled, "I'm in the bathroom. I'm stuck."
a hushed voice, conversation, crowd etc is intentionally quiet, for example because someone is afraid of being heard or because they are waiting for some important news: · Two men in dark suits were having a hushed conversation in the corner.· A hushed congress heard the official declaration of war.· She spoke in a hushed whisper, "I think my husband knows about us."
a faint sound is quiet and difficult to hear, especially because it comes from a long way away : · Jean opened the window, and heard the faint sound of the bells drifting across the Old Town.· The men went away, and we could hear their voices get fainter and fainter.· There was silence for a moment as they held each other's eyes, broken only by the faint sound of dance music from down below.
formal inaudible sounds are so quiet that you cannot hear them: · Her voice was so faint, it was almost inaudible.· Michael went bright red, and muttering something inaudible, he walked out of the room.· Aunt Jessica let out an inaudible sigh.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY the faint light of dawn The heat made him feel quite faint.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
the faint light of dawn The heat made him feel quite faint.· He has a very slight accent.
· Daniel looked at her with mild amusement.
· The curtains lifted in the light breeze.
(=not loud)· There was only a faint click from the gun's trigger mechanism.
(=show that you think someone or something is not good by only praising them a little)
(=not know or understand something at all)· He had not the foggiest notion how far he might have to walk.
· the faint perfume of a spring woodland
(=something that is not very likely)· There's no point worrying about such a remote possibility.
(=comments that seem to praise someone, but in a way that does not really give them much praise)· He wins faint praise as ‘the only candidate with a grain of sense’.
· The boy's pulse was very weak.
(=not strong)· Don't you think she has a slight resemblance to that blonde singer in Abba?
· The signals were too weak for the receiver to pick up.
(=not strong)· I noticed a faint smell of perfume.
· She gave him an apologetic little smile.
(=not loud)· The sound was so faint I wasn’t sure what it was at first.
(=one when you feel unable to stand steadily and your head feels unclear)· She must have had a dizzy spell and fallen.
· The star is faint but visible.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· The exalted status of peers such as the Duke of Norfolk is a faint echo of this power in the land.· There was the faint echo of voices rolling up to the highest balcony seats.· From somewhere far-off in the building, he could hear a faint echo of the nurses' choir.
· He looked across the sea: a faint glimmer of pale light was rising in the midnight-blue sky.· On her face appeared the faint glimmer of a smile.· There was a faint glimmer of light from her window; it was from the night-light which she kept burning.· But through the murk there was a faint glimmer of light.
· A few emergency circuits gave off a faint glow.· When I saw the faint glow of light in the distance, it scarcely registered with me.· The lamp beside his bed threw a faint glow over his swollen, passionate, tormented face.· When the first faint glow of dawn crept into the cave, Moon-Watcher saw that his father had died in the night.· A faint glow came through an opaque window which must belong to one of the cloakrooms.· The faint glow of a match shone through the door from the house.· The door was locked, the room unlit but for the faint glow of a small screen to one side of the desk.
· The faint hope he had offered shrivelled and died in the heat of the hungry, leaping flames.· The last faint hope that there had been some mistake died.· The former Chelsea man duly obliged with two headers to keep alive Rangers' faint hopes of a title challenge.· The shares had just started to recover on faint hopes of a busy festive season.· His heart sank, his faint hope of creating an opportunity to escape crushed.· Fabia returned to her room, but her faint hopes were already getting fainter.· I thought about letting it ring, but there was a faint hope that it might be Sally.· That uncertainty urges us to look beyond the present, with a faint hope to control our future.
· Standing all day on the wet clay floor under the dropping ceiling in the faint light cast by tallow candles was grim.· A laser transmitted faint light signals to an electronic detector.· In the distance I could see a faint light, and I decided to try to reach it.· A faint light now appears behind the beaded curtain of one of the houses that face the courtyard.· I inspected the room in the faint light coming in around the shutters.· In the faint light of what is left of day, she can barely make out the road ahead.· He knew he was quite safe, yet he felt increasingly tense as he ascended the steep path in the faint light.· A street lamp threw faint light and out of it came a young woman.
· There remained a faint possibility that Newley would try to identify the person who collected the money.
· At the product's launch, the company took time out to damn 3Com's boundary routing scheme with faint praise.· With these words of faint praise, Maskelyne tactfully conceded a few major flaws in the lunar distance method.· If that seems like faint praise, you should read the dozen most recent books on Paradise Lost.
· On my hands and knees and with my eyes shut, I could smell their faint scent.· There was a faint scent of ammonia in the air.· Standing so close, she was aware of a faint scent of expensive aftershave, and his shirt had felt like silk.· The faint scent of essential oils fills the air.· A faint scent of tobacco and fish lingered, even though one of the windows had been opened.
· In my bed is a faint smell of excrement.· There was a faint smell of hay in my room, even in that weather, even with the windows closed.· A faint smell of frying bacon drifted up from the kitchen.· As the steam drifted toward him, it seemed to bring with it a faint smell of meat.· He detected the faint smell of blood just before the familiar but oddly stagnant odor of Jinju came rushing toward him.· A faint smell of cooking emerged from the kitchen.· Something somewhere in here may be rotting; there is a faint smell.
· Her head was lowered in obedience, but there was a faint smile on her cherry lips.· The appraiser shut the bathroom door, and everyone looked around with faint smiles.· He exhaled sharply and managed a faint smile.· A faint smile eased her heavy mouth.· He could not resist a faint smile creeping over his face.· Hannah nodded her head again, a faint smile creeping across her face.· She found the make-up room and went in, a faint smile playing about her lips as she looked round.· Lee went out the north door, a faint smile on his face.
· And the faint sound of movement from below told her she was not the only one.· Finally we heard a faint sound in the distance and scrambled into the woods.· As he reached out for the cheese, he heard a faint sound behind him ... Anthea?· The faint sound of his cello, as I lay tucked up in bed, is woven into my childhood memories.· He couldn't even hear faint sounds from the next apartment without his imagination putting together some unwholesome scene of matching action.· Sure enough, not long afterwards she heard the first faint sounds of pursuit.· And then his ears caught a faint sound.· A faint sound from below caught her ear.
· There are faint traces of tyre on the road, but no serious skidding.· Actually there is a faint trace of saccharine here.
· She had just pressed it a second time when she heard a faint voice above the High Street traffic.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1difficult to see, hear, smell etc: - I thought about letting it ring, but there was a faint hope that it might be Sally.
- If it can startle the predator in some way, there is a faint chance that the enemy may panic and flee.
- That uncertainty urges us to look beyond the present, with a faint hope to control our future.
- There remained a faint possibility that Newley would try to identify the person who collected the money.
- I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about.
- Litigation is not for the faint-hearted - or the half-hearted.
- Playing foreign markets is not for the faint-hearted.
- Well, starting your own business is not for the faint-hearted.
She gave a faint smile. a very faint noise the faint light of dawn► see thesaurus at quiet2a faint hope/possibility/chance etc a very small or slight hope etc: a faint hope that they might be alive3not have the faintest idea to not know anything at all about something: I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about.4feeling weak and as if you are about to become unconscious because you are very ill, tired, or hungry: The heat made him feel quite faint.faint with I was faint with hunger.—faintly adverb: Everyone looked faintly surprised. The sun shone faintly through the clouds.—faintness noun [uncountable] → damn somebody/something with faint praise at damn4(6)