noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The property of being or feeling faint. countable, uncountable

   "And he first took exceptions at this badge, / Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower / Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart."

2. 2
   the quality of being dim or lacking contrast wordnet
3. 3
   the trait of lacking boldness and courage wordnet
4. 4
   barely audible wordnet
5. 5
   the property of being without strength wordnet

Show 1 more definition

6. 6
   a feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

dimnessfaintheartednessdimnessfaintheartednessabuliaanemia

Example

More examples

"Her knees trembled, her heart fluttered, a horrible faintness came over her."

Etymology

From Middle English faintnesse, feintnesse, equivalent to faint + -ness.

Related phrases

light headedness

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.