feign

[feyn]

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verb (used with object)

to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness.

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

to imitate deceptively: to feign another's voice.

verb (used without object)

to make believe; pretend: She's only feigning, she isn't really ill.

Origin of feign

1250–1300; Middle English fei(g)nen < Old French feign-, present stem of feindre < Latin fingere to shape, invent, feign

Related formsfeign·er, nounfeign·ing·ly, adverbun·feign·ing, adjectiveun·feign·ing·ly, adverb

Can be confusedfain faint feign feint

Synonyms for feign

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR feign ON THESAURUS.COM

4. See pretend.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for feigning

play, dissimulate, bluff, assume, invent, fake, stonewall, fabricate, devise, imagine, dissemble, simulate, act, forge, affect, imitate, counterfeit, sham, four-flush

Examples from the Web for feigning

Contemporary Examples of feigning

They already know the answer, but they know by feigning ignorance they can create all this debate about it.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire
William O’Connor
January 6, 2015
The whole point of being a pageant queen is to trot around in your bikini to be ogled at while feigning sexual naiveté.
Miss America Hypocrisy: The Vanessa Williams Nude Photo Shaming
Amanda Marcotte
July 23, 2014
This was a short time after Obama released his birth certificate and when Trump was feigning a run for president.
Obama Will Weaponize Comedy at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Dean Obeidallah
May 2, 2014
“They just said they would be in touch,” I replied, feigning disinterest.
The Model Diaries: The Rush of Rejection in Paris
Anonymous
December 26, 2013
It seems to me to be very image-conscious, and you even have ex-prison guards and the like feigning street cred.
CeeLo and Goodie Mob on Their Comeback, Kanye West’s ‘Emotional Problems,’ More
Marlow Stern
August 13, 2013

Historical Examples of feigning

"I won't have you go out," she cried, feigning sudden despair.
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola
He closed his eyes, feigning to drop asleep, as he sometimes did in the afternoon.
Doctor Pascal
Emile Zola
Therese had closed her eyelids some time previously, feigning slumber.
Therese Raquin
Emile Zola
Because it suited her deep purpose, Mary consented, feigning to be persuaded.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment
Rafael Sabatini
No reason can be imagined for her feigning a possession which has pained her in a thousand ways.
The Phantom World
Augustin Calmet

British Dictionary definitions for feigning

feign

verb

to put on a show of (a quality or emotion); pretendto feign innocence

(tr) to make up; inventto feign an excuse

(tr) to copy; imitateto feign someone's laugh

Derived Formsfeigner, nounfeigningly, adverb

Word Origin for feign

C13: from Old French feindre to pretend, from Latin fingere to form, shape, invent

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for feigning

feign

c.1300, from Old French feign-, present participle stem of feindre "pretend, represent, imitate, shirk" (12c.), from Latin fingere "to touch, handle; devise; fabricate, alter, change" (see fiction). Related: Feigned; feigning.