feint
Americannoun
-
feints
plural
-
a movement made in order to deceive an adversary; an attack aimed at one place or point merely as a distraction from the real place or point of attack.
military feints; the feints of a skilled fencer.
-
a feigned or assumed appearance.
His air of approval was a feint to conceal his real motives.
verb (used without object)
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feints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
feinted,
past participle, past
-
feinting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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feints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
feinted,
past participle, past
-
feinting
present participle
-
to make a feint at; deceive with a feint.
-
to make a false show of; simulate.
noun
-
a mock attack or movement designed to distract an adversary, as in a military manoeuvre or in boxing, fencing, etc
-
a misleading action or appearance
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
feintsimple
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feintssimple
-
have feintedperfect
-
has feintedperfect
-
am feintingprogressive
-
are feintingprogressive
-
is feintingprogressive
-
have been feintingperfect progressive
-
has been feintingperfect progressive
Past
-
feintedsimple
-
had feintedperfect
-
was feintingprogressive
-
were feintingprogressive
-
had been feintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of feint
First recorded in 1670–80; from French feinte, from Old French feinte “fabrication,” noun use of feminine of feint “pretended,” past participle of feindre; see origin at feign
Explanation
Did you ever tell your parents you were going off to school, grabbed your book bag, and headed out the door...only to spend the rest of the day hanging out with your friends? Well, that was a feint, a super sneaky move designed to fool someone. Although military and political tactics are big on feints, their most common use is probably in sports — particularly boxing, where opponents are continually trying to fake each other out. As in Dundee's account of an Ali-Frazier match: "Ali feinted with a jab, and Frazier threw one of his own, missing." Not to be confused with faint, meaning "weak or feeble." However, a feint can be deliberately faint, as Ali knew and Frazier found out when the real right hook made contact.
Vocabulary lists containing feint
The Lightning Thief
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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The Hobbit
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s a bit of a feint, because the game is also going to be aired on its free broadcast daddy, ABC.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
In effect, the Leipzig attack was like a maneuver in a war game, or a feint.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
But this is all a feint: The movie sets you up for one thing and then delivers another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
There is no strict definition of a stutter, but under Fifa rules, a player is allowed to stop or feint during the run-up as long as they don't do it directly before kicking the ball.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
A few minutes later, a small square filled with feint light appeared, hovering in the darkness of the mountainside.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Of exactly what transpires in the opening episodes, I won’t say much, given the feints and spoilers, though these are likely to be revised more than once across a 13-episode season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
War is filled with flopping, feints and trickery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
It was the culmination of a series of feints and bluffs in the preceding hours and days as the former reality TV star kept the world guessing.
From Barron's ● Feb. 28, 2026
In these situations, he would carry his team upfield using deceptive feints to create space from opponents pressing him.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025
He made two half-hearted feints toward the basket, hoping to catch Ben off balance and get an unchallenged set shot.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Politano turned provider two minutes before halftime as he sent Kvaratskhelia down the left and the winger cut inside, feinted and then squeezed a shot between Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò and the near post.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 21, 2023
The fight begun with both athletes showing patience as Volkanovski feinted and switched stances, while Makhachev looked for openings.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2023
At the end of the first half, Brown feinted a drive that rocked Ute defender Both Gach off balance before stepping back for a contested 22-foot three-pointer that splashed through the net as time expired.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2022
Lang hammered his entrance like the first hard few drops of an incoming storm and just as quickly feinted into an airy, gentle touch, from the ground to the clouds in an instant.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2021
Charlie feinted toward me, and I snatched the hammer.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
The fight started with the Briton pushing forward, as he would throughout the following 25 minutes, feinting and landing leg kicks, while chants of "Colby, Colby" rung out around the arena.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2023
Bud snaked his way inside, feinting in the middle distance and eating some shots on the way in — but nothing that rattled him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2023
Salesses knows exactly how to get these giants pounding up and down the court — pivoting, feinting, shooting!
From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2023
Donato would then put his team ahead in the shootout round, feinting right and deking goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the left.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2022
So she flourished it, feinting to right and left, not intending to hit him at all, and he didn’t move.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
