feint

American  

[feynt] / feɪnt /

noun

• feints
  plural

1. 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.

2. a feigned or assumed appearance.

   His air of approval was a feint to conceal his real motives.

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verb (used without object)

• feints,
  present (3rd person singular)
• feinted,
  past participle,  past
• feinting
  present participle

1. to make a feint.

   He feinted left, then struck his opponent with a roar.

verb (used with object)

• feints,
  present (3rd person singular)
• feinted,
  past participle,  past
• feinting
  present participle

1. to make a feint at; deceive with a feint.

2. to make a false show of; simulate.

feint ¹ British  

/ feɪnt /

noun

1. a mock attack or movement designed to distract an adversary, as in a military manoeuvre or in boxing, fencing, etc

2. a misleading action or appearance

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verb

1. (intr) to make a feint

feint ² British  

/ feɪnt /

noun

1. printing the narrowest rule used in the production of ruled paper

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• feints
  plural

Participles

• feinting
  present
• feinted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• feint
  simple
• feints
  simple
• have feinted
  perfect
• has feinted
  perfect
• am feinting
  progressive
• are feinting
  progressive
• is feinting
  progressive
• have been feinting
  perfect progressive
• has been feinting
  perfect progressive

Past

• feinted
  simple
• had feinted
  perfect
• was feinting
  progressive
• were feinting
  progressive
• had been feinting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will feint
  simple
• will have feinted
  perfect
• will be feinting
  progressive
• will have been feinting
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

feint feints feinted feinting

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

Again, no storming, no lunging, not even a feint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2025

Was the "two-week deadline" for negotations a feint?

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2025

Perhaps this is a feint in some grand art of the deal.

From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2025

A few minutes later, a small square filled with feint light appeared, hovering in the darkness of the mountainside.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

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

Bud started upping the feints, forcing Willie to swing wide and hard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2023

Marcus feints left with his scim, and when Helene counters, he grins.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

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

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

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

He feinted and thrust at Chrysaor’s gut, but Chrysaor anticipated the move..

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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

The senior pulled out to the elbow before feinting right, going left, dusting her defender and streaking to the goal.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 27, 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

Related Words

• ruse