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# faintly

adverb (faintly)

«faintly» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Weakly, quietly or not clearly, so it is hard to see, hear or smell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#m1)
2. Slightly; a little: «faintly surprised». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#m2)

### In the lessons

In stories: «She smiled faintly», «music played faintly in the distance», «it smelled faintly of smoke». It tells the reader something is weak or small. Opposite: strongly, loudly, clearly.

### Examples

- The stars shone faintly through the clouds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x1)
- I could faintly hear the bell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x2)
- The room smelled faintly of paint. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x3)
- She smiled faintly and closed her eyes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x4)
- He looked faintly annoyed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x5)
- The writing was faintly visible on the old paper. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x6)
- The light glowed faintly at the end of the tunnel. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x7)
- “Hullo, Peter,” she replied faintly, squeezing herself as small as possible. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/#x8)

### Note

From faint (weak; or to pass out). Don't confuse with «feint» (a fake move) or with fainting. «Faintly» about an amount = a little, not a lot.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «faintly» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/faintly/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«faintly» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/faintly.html) on Mova free.