faintly

adverb

Definition of faintlynext
as in quietly

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of faintly Related Stories While onstage before his new film bowed on the first night of the serene Colorado festival, Haigh seemed faintly astonished to be there at all. — Clayton Davis, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026 The scenery is almost irresistible in fall, when the air is faintly pumpkin-scented and the pace slows. — Taryn Shorr-McKee, Midwest Living, 26 Aug. 2026 The soil should be moist, faintly acid smelling, from its infusion of decayed compost. — Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026 Suddenly, her parents’ cheerful transparency—their coarse jokes, their eagerness to name things that should not be named—appeared to Nidhi in a faintly embarrassing light. — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026 Smell and Taste Fresh watermelon should smell clean and faintly sweet. — Anne Wolf, Martha Stewart, 14 Aug. 2026 All your zillennial and millennial friends, now adults with car insurance and vigorous SPF routines, have been watching cozy, faintly dissociative teen dramas in order to forget their troubles. — Daisy Jones, Vogue, 12 Aug. 2026 The ceremonies are held at Nihi’s Nihioka sanctuary, an hour’s ride from the hotel through wide open rice fields and thick jungle, where emerald hills cascade down towards the sea and the sound of waves carries faintly across the valley. — Charley Ward, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Aug. 2026 Instead of using a mirror to gather starlight, MOTHRA has many telephoto lenses, like those on a camera, which can capture faintly glowing wisps of gas and other feeble emanations across a wider field of view. — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for faintly
  1. quietly
  2. feebly
  3. softly
  4. low
  5. noiselessly
Adverb
  • But Doubs quietly put together an impressive second half of training camp and was especially good in the red zone.
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • By August, Democratic candidates in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania were running ads against data centers directly, and Republicans have begun quietly distancing themselves from the same policies many once championed.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of quietly
Adverb
  • Chief swam feebly across, joined the other two horses on the bank, and stood there shaking.
    — Dolores Brown, Outdoor Life, 17 June 2026
  • Judge lined it feebly into the glove of an outfielder.
    — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 17 May 2026
Definition of feebly
Adverb
  • Isabel can sometimes be found softly singing under a mango tree, as if trying to invoke something lost.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • In the dry-down, tonka bean tempers the citrus with a creamy, softly gourmand quality that contrasts with the bright opening.
    — Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of softly
Adverb
  • While Southern California Gas charges ranked low nationally in the survey, electricity costs are another story.
    — Ava Hu, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • So, expectations were low going into the new Championship season.
    — Amitai Winehouse, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of low
Adverb
  • Small branches can be clipped quickly and almost noiselessly and fashioned into an effective blind in only a few minutes.
    — Bruce Brady, Outdoor Life, 8 Apr. 2026
  • On a brilliant midsummer morning, my wife and I stepped into a black Zodiac raft and drifted noiselessly among icebergs five stories high, their emerald and aquamarine walls gleaming above sapphire waters.
    — Pico Iyer, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Apr. 2025
Definition of noiselessly

Browse Nearby Words

fainting
faintly
faintness
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Cite this Entry

“Faintly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/faintly. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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