fainting

/ˈfeɪntɪŋ/

fainting is the present participle and gerund of faint.

Meaning of faint

faint (third-person singular simple present faints, present participle fainting, simple past and past participle fainted)

(intransitive) To lose consciousness through a lack of oxygen or nutrients to the brain, usually as a result of suddenly reduced blood flow (may be caused by emotional trauma, loss of blood or various medical conditions).
- A fainting fit.
Synonyms:

pass out, swoon, sweb, black out, keel over
(intransitive) To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
- If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 24:10
(intransitive) To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
- November 12, 1711, Alexander Pope, letter to Henry Cromwell
  Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye.

fainting (plural faintings)

An act of collapsing into a state of temporary unconsciousness.
- fainting fit

plural	faintings

From Middle English feinting, equivalent to faint + -ing.

What does fainting mean?: Fainting means an act of collapsing into a state of temporary unconsciousness.
What is fainting the present participle and gerund of?: Fainting is the present participle and gerund of faint.
What part of speech is fainting?: Fainting is a noun.
How do you pronounce fainting?: Fainting is pronounced /ˈfeɪntɪŋ/.
What is the plural of fainting?: The plural of fainting is faintings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: fainting (page history and authors); faint (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-fainting.ogg.

Cite this entry: “fainting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fainting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.