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Which character in a Shakespeare play is thought to feign madness?

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feign

American  

[feyn] / feɪn /

verb (used with object)

• feigns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• feigned,
  past participle,  past
• feigning
  present participle

1. to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of.

   to feign sickness.

2. to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse.

3. to imitate deceptively.

   to feign another's voice.

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verb (used without object)

• feigns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• feigned,
  past participle,  past
• feigning
  present participle

1. to make believe; pretend.

   She's only feigning, she isn't really ill.

feign British  

/ feɪn /

verb

1. to put on a show of (a quality or emotion); pretend

   to feign innocence

2. (tr) to make up; invent

   to feign an excuse

3. (tr) to copy; imitate

   to feign someone's laugh

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Synonym Usage

See pretend.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• feigner
  noun
• feigningly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• feigning
  present
• feigned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• feign
  simple
• feigns
  simple
• have feigned
  perfect
• has feigned
  perfect
• am feigning
  progressive
• are feigning
  progressive
• is feigning
  progressive
• have been feigning
  perfect progressive
• has been feigning
  perfect progressive

Past

• feigned
  simple
• had feigned
  perfect
• was feigning
  progressive
• were feigning
  progressive
• had been feigning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will feign
  simple
• will have feigned
  perfect
• will be feigning
  progressive
• will have been feigning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of feign

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fei(g)nen, from Old French feign-, present stem of faindre, feindre, from Latin fingere “to feign, invent, shape”

Explanation

For a more formal way to say pretend to or imitate, choose the verb feign. You might feign indifference when you hear about some gossip, but you're probably dying to know. Feign comes from the Latin fingere, "to devise, fabricate." The word fiction comes from the same source, so if you feign something such as sleep, you give off the fiction that you are sleeping. This can be done to be polite but also to deceive such as when you feign an injury or the flu so you can stay home from school or work. You can also feign an accent, though some are better at this than others.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

feign feigns feigned feigning

There’s no more reason for Kelly to feign deference to journalistic standards, because there’s no more glittering future in them.

From Slate ● May 6, 2026

Or that night we stumbled onto a giant controlled burn and saw the flames reach up and tickle the moon and recognized the gnawing feeling that fire is something we can only feign to control.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026

Our civilization shouldn’t feign excessive humility and modesty while America inspires creative drive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

Experts have previously warned the potential for AI chatbots to make things up, be overly-encouraging, and feign empathy can pose risks to young and vulnerable people.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2025

"Well, if you can feign love or compassion half so well as you can feign an agonizing death, you'll be as famous as Burbage."

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood

In response, Jenrick said the mistaken release was "a national embarrassment and today the justice secretary feigns anger at what happened."

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2025

However, people are very vulnerable and they like the way he feigns strength and leadership.

From Salon ● May 23, 2023

When the film momentarily feigns to look like a film, the image zooms out to reveal that the handsome cinematography is really a true crime docuseries streaming on June’s laptop.

From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2023

Van Gaal and Berhalter have met before, by the way, although the Dutch coach feigns amnesia.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2022

Slant watches over us all; Charles feigns sleep.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Nevertheless, a judge was impressed, or feigned to be, with an obviously disingenuous antitrust claim.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Which woman will accept his obviously feigned love?

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

As those scenes played in New York, Swift affectionately turned to Saunders and yelled, "YES!" as he giggled and covered his face in feigned shyness.

From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025

“Go on,” Johnson says with a feigned seriousness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2025

She was the most graceful human the Gallivespian had ever seen; this clumsiness was feigned.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

"Showing awareness could suggest a degree of mutual understanding," but feigning ignorance signals that the issue could become a key bargaining point in any future talks with Trump, Hong said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Manager Dave Roberts and his pitching coaches haven’t been particularly forthcoming, either, feigning ignorance about the glove that looks as big as Sasaki’s head.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Spaeny: It’s what every actor is thinking except they’re feigning ...

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

However, the “Hannah Montana” star did not end her mockery there—going on to accuse Cooper of feigning innocence about the proximity of their properties.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 31, 2026

Then she leans over and I’m sure she’s going to kiss my forehead like she used to when I was a little girl, but I roll away from her, still feigning sleep.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon