feint
Americannoun
-
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)
verb (used with object)
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to make a feint at; deceive with a feint.
-
to make a false show of; simulate.
noun
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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
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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:
The gimmicks are effective, though a bit of a feint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025
Was the "two-week deadline" for negotations a feint?
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2025
It's a feint, an effort to scare his opponents into believing his ascension is unstoppable, so they stop fighting him.
From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2023
Some bartenders pour you a drink then ignore you, circling back with the check and a feint at sincerity, hoping for a big tip.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
That was a feint, designed to catch the opponent offguard.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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
He cites improvements in "footwork, defence, staying calm on fight night", adding that experience has allowed him to put combinations, body work and feints together more naturally.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
During the next round, he was spinning David around with his footwork, working feints into elaborate movement patterns to leave David confused.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2023
The stride length, the quickness of the foot feints, all clearly revealed to his unfailing eye, made him reassess his second conclusion.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Kvaratskhelia feinted to run in behind, then dropped short, then looked to run in behind, dropped short again before eventually running in behind.
From BBC ● May 30, 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
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
James feinted slightly to the side, and Edward shifted in response.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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
Harrison hitches his bespoke wagon to that star, and the resulting scandal shows how deftly Korelitz moves as a satirist, feinting in one direction and then delivering a knockout blow in the other.
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022
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
He was oversimplifying here, skittering off there, dodging and feinting.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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.
