Standard Lemma guide

fainthearted

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: F EY1 N T HH AA1 R T IH0 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Faint of heart; irresolute; fearful.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: afraid, cowardly, meek, timid

Antonyms: brave, determined, steadfast, stouthearted

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

lacking conviction or boldness or courage

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • faint heart ne'er won fair lady

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: faint, timid, faint-hearted

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From faint + hearted.

Across languages

Translations

42 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: страхлив (strahliv) — lacking courage, timid
  • Bulgarian: малодушен (malodušen) — lacking courage, timid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 膽怯 /胆怯 (dǎnqiè) — lacking courage, timid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無勇氣的 /无勇气的 — lacking courage, timid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 无勇气的 (wú yǒngqì de) — lacking courage, timid
  • Danish: frygtsom — lacking courage, timid
  • Danish: forsagt — lacking courage, timid
  • French: timoré — lacking courage, timid
  • German: zaghaft — lacking courage, timid
  • German: feige — lacking courage, timid
  • German: mutlos — lacking courage, timid
  • German: schüchtern — lacking courage, timid
  • German: furchtsam — lacking courage, timid
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐌹𐍃 (grindafraþjis) — lacking courage, timid
  • Ancient Greek: ἄθυμος (áthumos) — lacking courage, timid
  • Hungarian: bátortalan — lacking courage, timid
  • Japanese: 勇気のない (yūki no nai) — lacking courage, timid
  • Kyrgyz: коркок (korkok) — lacking courage, timid
  • Kyrgyz: жүрөгү жок (jürögü jok) — lacking courage, timid
  • Manx: faase-chreeagh — lacking courage, timid
  • Māori: harotu — lacking courage, timid
  • Māori: hōpīpī — lacking courage, timid
  • Māori: hopī — lacking courage, timid
  • Māori: tunutunu — lacking courage, timid
  • Norwegian Bokmål: forknytt — lacking courage, timid
  • Russian: малоду́шный (malodúšnyj) — lacking courage, timid
  • Russian: трусли́вый (truslívyj) — lacking courage, timid
  • Russian: ро́бкий (róbkij) — lacking courage, timid
  • Russian: боязли́вый (bojazlívyj) — lacking courage, timid
  • Russian: сла́бый духом (slábyj) — lacking courage, timid
  • Spanish: pusilánime — lacking courage, timid
  • Spanish: medroso — lacking courage, timid
  • Spanish: apocado — lacking courage, timid
  • Swedish: försagd — lacking courage, timid
  • Swedish: klenmodig — lacking courage, timid
  • Swedish: modlös — lacking courage, timid
  • Swedish: räddhågad — lacking courage, timid
  • Swedish: nedslagen — lacking courage, timid
  • Swedish: rädd — lacking courage, timid
  • Swedish: osäker — lacking courage, timid
  • Turkish: ürkek — lacking courage, timid
  • Woiwurrung: bambun — lacking courage, timid