FAINTNESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does faintness mean? 

• FAINTNESS (noun)
  The noun FAINTNESS has 5 senses:

1. a feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon

2. the property of being without strength

3. barely audible

4. the trait of lacking boldness and courage

5. the quality of being dim or lacking contrast

  Familiarity information: FAINTNESS used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FAINTNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("faintness" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Derivation:

faint (weak and likely to lose consciousness)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The property of being without strength

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the faintness or potency of the feeling

Hypernyms ("faintness" is a kind of...):

weakness (the property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain)

Derivation:

faint (lacking strength or vigor)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Barely audible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("faintness" is a kind of...):

softness (a sound property that is free from loudness or stridency)

Derivation:

faint (deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The trait of lacking boldness and courage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

faintheartedness; faintness

Context example:

faintness of heart and infirmity of purpose

Hypernyms ("faintness" is a kind of...):

timidity; timorousness (fearfulness in venturing into new and unknown places or activities)

Derivation:

faint (lacking conviction or boldness or courage)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The quality of being dim or lacking contrast

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

dimness; faintness

Hypernyms ("faintness" is a kind of...):

blurriness; fogginess; fuzziness; indistinctness; softness (the quality of being indistinct and without sharp outlines)

Derivation:

faint (lacking clarity or distinctness)

faint (deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc)

 Context examples 

I was troubled; a mist came over my eyes, and I felt a faintness seize me, but I was quickly restored by the cold gale of the mountains.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The squire was waiting for me at the stern window, all his faintness gone from him.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The doctor seemed seized with a qualm of faintness; he shut his mouth tight and nodded.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But it will be very dreadful, with this feeling of hunger, faintness, chill, and this sense of desolation—this total prostration of hope.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She entertained a wild idea of explaining to him the first time they were alone together, of lying to him, of mentioning casually the attack of faintness that had overpowered her just before the moon came up.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Mrs. Jennings, with a thoroughly good-humoured concern for its cause, admitted the excuse most readily, and Elinor, after seeing her safe off, returned to Marianne, whom she found attempting to rise from the bed, and whom she reached just in time to prevent her from falling on the floor, faint and giddy from a long want of proper rest and food; for it was many days since she had any appetite, and many nights since she had really slept; and now, when her mind was no longer supported by the fever of suspense, the consequence of all this was felt in an aching head, a weakened stomach, and a general nervous faintness.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Symptoms experienced during a panic attack include dyspnea or sensations of being smothered; dizziness, loss of balance or faintness; choking sensations; palpitations or accelerated heart rate; shakiness; sweating; nausea or other form of abdominal distress; depersonalization or derealization; paresthesias; hot flashes or chills; chest discomfort or pain; fear of dying and fear of not being in control of oneself or going crazy.

(Panic Disorder, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

I felt a thrill while I answered him; but no coldness, and no faintness.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

These passed away, and left me faint; and then as in its turn faintness subsided, I began to be aware of a change in the temper of my thoughts, a greater boldness, a contempt of danger, a solution of the bonds of obligation.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)