desmayarse
/desmaʝaɾse/from spelling rules
To pass out in Spanish is desmayarse.
Desmayarse is the most general and widely used term for 'to pass out' in Spanish. It specifically refers to losing consciousness due to physical weakness or a lack of oxygen.
Meaning: to faint (verb)
Which one should you use?
While desmayarse focuses on physical weakness, the phrase perder el conocimiento is a more clinical way to express that someone has lost consciousness. You may also encounter the formal verb desfallecer to mean to faint or pass out.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because desmayarse is a reflexive verb, you must use a reflexive pronoun such as se, me, te, nos or os to indicate the person who fainted. For example, 'he/she fainted' is se desmayó and 'he/she faints' is conjugated in the third person singular as se desmaya.
How do you pronounce it?
/desmaʝaɾse/
Did you know?
- In some Spanish dialects, a person who faints is jokingly described as having se le fue la luz, which literally means 'their light went out'.
- The verb desmayar was historically used to mean 'to loosen' or 'to slacken', reflecting the idea of the body losing its tension during a faint.
- Spanish has a distinct slang term caer en coma etílico for passing out from too much alcohol, which literally translates to 'falling into an alcoholic coma'.
Examples in context
- María se desmayó en el teatro después de esperar horas en la fila.Maria passed out in the theater after waiting in line for hours.
- Después de beber demasiado, Jorge se cayó en redondo en el sofá.After drinking too much, Jorge passed out flat on the couch.
- Laura se quedó en las nubes durante la reunión médica y terminó desmayada.Laura spaced out during the medical meeting and ended up passing out.
- El paciente perdió el conocimiento después de la lesión cerebral.The patient lost consciousness after the brain injury.
- La señora mayor desfalleció debido al estrés y el calor extremo.The elderly woman fainted due to stress and extreme heat.
- Después de subirse rápidamente a la montaña rusa, Karla se mareó y casi se desmayó.After getting on the roller coaster quickly, Karla felt dizzy and almost passed out.
- Cuando escuchó la noticia, Marcos no pudo aguantar y se desmayó en el acto.When he heard the news, Marcos couldn't bear it and immediately passed out.
- Marta se desmayó repentinamente durante la conferencia.Marta suddenly passed out during the conference.
- Se desmayó por el calor.He/she fainted from the heat.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry desmayarse, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
