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)
-
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
The name is a feint: There’s nothing goth about his chipper electronic pop, which often feels tailor-made for DJ sets in exotic locations, a crowd swaying as the sun sinks in the background.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Was the "two-week deadline" for negotations a feint?
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2025
On a metatextual level, the show is itself a masterful feint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2024
Blue Eyes reversed from her feint and surged toward Sadna in a flash of steel.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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
It is the most delicate of dances, rife with subtle signals, attacks and feints, and deniable action.
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2024
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
The fight begun with both athletes showing patience as Volkanovski feinted and switched stances, while Makhachev looked for openings.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 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 Atlanta Hawks guard feinted left and then crossed over sharply to his right, settling into a comfortable pocket between two frozen Milwaukee Bucks defenders.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 24, 2021
Then, Quinn feinted inside and broke toward the left pylon, where McCoy found him for a completion.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 7, 2018
Anastasia feinted at me, hurling sticks and leaves and dirt and whatever else she could manage to grab.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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
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.
