different between faint vs fuzzy

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fe?nt/
• Rhymes: -e?nt
• Homophone: feint

Etymology 1

From Middle English faynt, feynt (“weak; feeble”), from Old French faint, feint (“feigned; negligent; sluggish”), past participle of feindre, faindre (“to feign; sham; work negligently”), from Latin fingere (“to touch, handle, usually form, shape, frame, form in thought, imagine, conceive, contrive, devise, feign”).

Adjective

faint (comparative fainter, superlative faintest)

1. (of a being) Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness

2. Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; cowardly; dejected
   • 1789, Robert Burns, to Dr. Blacklock

     Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.

3. Barely perceptible; not bright, or loud, or sharp

4. Performed, done, or acted, weakly; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy

5. Slight; minimal.
   • 2005, Lesley Brown (translator), Plato, Sophist, 243b.

     do you have the faintest understanding of what they mean?

Derived terms

• damn with faint praise
• fainten
• faint-hearted
• faintish
• faintling
• faintly
• faintness

Translations

Noun

faint (plural faints)

1. The act of fainting, syncope.

2. (rare) The state of one who has fainted; a swoon.

Derived terms

• faintful
• faintless
• faintsome

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English fainten, feynten, from the adjective (see above).

Verb

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

1. (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).

   • If I send them away fasting […] they will faint by the way.

   • September 22 1713, Richard Steele, The Guardian No. 167

     But upon hearing the Honour which he intended her , she fainted away , and fell down as Dead at his Feet

2. (intransitive) To lose courage or spirit; to become depressed or despondent.
3. (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.

Synonyms

• (to lose consciousness): pass out, swoon, sweb, black out, keel over
• queal

Translations

Further reading

• faint in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• faint in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• faint at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Fanti, fitna

Cimbrian

Etymology

From Middle High German v?nt, v?ent, v?ant, from Old High German f?ant, f?and, from Proto-Germanic *fijandz (“enemy, fiend”). Cognate with German Feind, English fiend.

Noun

fàint m (plural fainte)

1. (Sette Comuni) enemy, fiend

References

• “faint” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Welsh

Alternative forms

• pa faint (literary)

Etymology

Shortened from pa faint (“what amount”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vai?nt/

Pronoun

faint

1. how much, how many

Usage notes

Faint means either how many, followed by o and the plural form of a noun with soft mutation, or how much, preceding o and the singular form of a noun, again with soft mutation. Sawl corresponds only to English how many and is followed by the singular form of a noun.

English

Etymology

Uncertain. Apparently from fuzz +? -y, though some sources suggest that fuzz derives from fuzzy. Compare fozy, or Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?zi/

• Rhymes: -?zi

Adjective

fuzzy (comparative fuzzier, superlative fuzziest)

1. Covered with fuzz or a large number of tiny loose fibres like a carpet or many stuffed animals
2. Vague or imprecise.

   My recollection of that event is fuzzy.

3. Not clear; unfocused.

   I finally threw out a large stack of fuzzy photos.

4. (computing theory) Employing or relating to fuzzy logic.

Synonyms

• (covered with fuzz):
• (vague or imprecise): ambiguous, equivocal; see also Thesaurus:vague
• (not clear): blurry, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus:indistinct

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

fuzzy (plural fuzzies)

1. (often in the plural) A very small piece of plush material.

   You've got a fuzzy on your coat.

2. Something covered with fuzz or hair, as an animal or plush toy.
3. (slang) A person, especially a college student, interested in humanities or social sciences, as opposed to one interested in mathematics, science, or engineering.
4. (slang, military) A soldier with the rank of private.

Derived terms

• warm fuzzy

References

• fuzzy, adj. Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• fuzzy. Frederick C. Mish (Editor in Chief), Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. Merriam-Webster, 1994. ?OCLC