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)
-
feints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
feinted,
past participle, past
-
feinting
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
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
-
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:
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
The White House didn’t plan to disclose the feint, officials said, until the Washington Post revealed it and sparked a media frenzy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
A little shimmy in the area to feint away from a defender, then a precise curling finish into the top corner.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The gimmicks are effective, though a bit of a feint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025
"They shall not cross, Cat," Edmure scrawled, "Lord Tywin is marching to the southeast. A feint perhaps, or full retreat, it matters not. They shall not cross."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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
The narrative is less sucker punch than brilliant feints and jabs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2025
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
The Italian was 0.3secs behind the McLaren crossing the line into the last lap, but although he feinted a move into Tarzan, he was not close enough to make it work.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Elmas feinted past Mamadou Coulibaly on the left side of the area before curling into the far bottom corner.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 4, 2023
Juventus turned the match around completely two minutes later when Vlahović ran onto a through-ball and into the area and feinted his way past Inter defender Danilo D’Ambrosio.
From Seattle Times ● May 11, 2022
The battle on film was a sequence of explosive lunges: mauve, black, gold and scarlet feathers flying as the birds leapt, feinted and struck out with talons.
From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2021
Dorian feinted, but Chaol didn’t fall for it.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
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
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
Moore for a 10-yard score — a pass made possible by Newton stepping up in the pocket, feinting a scramble to draw in the safety to leave Moore open.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 21, 2021
Bull set him down and they pretended to box each other, weaving and feinting with exaggerated aggressiveness, cuffing each other on the head and punching each other on the shoulders.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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