feigning

[fey-ning]

noun

1. the act of pretending or putting on a show in order to deceive.

   The feigning of hurt feelings is just a manipulative ploy she uses.

adjective

1. putting on a show in order to deceive; pretending.

   “It hurts,” moaned the feigning child on the floor, gripping her ankle in a convincing display of pain.

Other Word Forms

• feigningly adverb
• unfeigning adjective
• unfeigningly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of feigning¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; feign ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun; feign ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

“There was not a trace of feigning good humor about him.”

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She was constantly feigning umbrage, often at the silliest moments.

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But Kennedy did not invent this schtick of trying to rebrand misogyny as feminism through trolling and feigning “concern” for women and children’s safety.

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Having the vice president declare that a condition of your employment should be feigning grief might skirt being an outright violation of the First Amendment, but it’s certainly a chilling violation of its basic spirit.

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Colton said she could not have imagined such a possibility when she sat in school, feigning that she had no answers to teachers’ questions simply because she could not see the board.

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Related Words

• cover-up 
• deceit 
• deception 
• dishonesty 
• distortion 
• fabrication 
• fakery 
• fallacy 
• falsity 
• misstatement www.thesaurus.com
• perjury 
• prevarication 
• sham 
• tall tale 
• untruth