faintly

faintly — adverb

1. to only a small degree, so that something is not easily seen, heard, smelled, or

1.副詞B2
釋義

to only a small degree, so that something is not easily seen, heard, smelled, or felt.

例句

Liam could faintly hear the music coming from the house across the street.

mid-position after modal 'could'

The old signature was still faintly visible through the yellowed paper.

faintly + adjective (visible)

同義詞
  • slightly

    More general; can describe any small amount, not limited to perception ('slightly warm')

  • vaguely

    Used more for memory or recognition than direct sensory perception ('vaguely recall')

  • dimly

    Primarily visual; suggests poor lighting or unclear outline ('dimly lit')

  • weakly

    Describes lack of strength or force; can apply to sound, effort, or light ('weakly protested')

反義詞
  • strongly

    Opposite in both degree and sensory intensity

  • clearly

    Opposite in perception — easily seen, heard, or understood

  • loudly

    Opposite specifically for sound-related uses

文法句型

faintly + adjective

auxiliary/modal + faintly + verb

verb + (object) + faintly (end-position)

用法筆記

Mid-position (before the main verb or after a modal/auxiliary) is the most common placement, especially with perception verbs and before adjectives. End-position is possible with intransitive verbs of perception or state (e.g., 'hung faintly', 'glowed faintly'). Front-position is rare and sounds literary ('Faintly, she heard footsteps in the hall'). Faintly does NOT mean 'almost not at all' — it means 'a little but clearly enough to be noticed.'

常見錯誤

❌I faintly remember what happened — it's all a blank.
✅I barely remember what happened
💡it's all a blank.' — 'barely' means almost not at all; 'faintly' means vaguely but with some awareness.
❌The lights were so dim that I could faintly see nothing.
✅The lights were so dim that I could barely see anything.
💡'faintly' is used with positive statements about weak perception, not with 'nothing' or negated perception.