feign

[ feyn ]
See synonyms for feign on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness.

  2. to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse.

  1. to imitate deceptively: to feign another's voice.

verb (used without object)
  1. to make believe; pretend: She's only feigning, she isn't really ill.

Origin of feign

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fei(g)nen, from Old French feign-, present stem of faindre, feindre, from Latin fingere “to feign, invent, shape”

synonym study For feign

4. See pretend.

Other words from feign

  • feign·er, noun

Words that may be confused with feign

Words Nearby feign

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use feign in a sentence

  • Skilled physicians feign indifference to their calling that they may smack of the kennel and the hunting-field.

  • She answered coldly that she could not feign; indifferent she was to everything on earth, indifferent she always should be.

  • Knoblock's sincere indignation wins, and the secretary backs away from the bedroom as I plunge under the covers and feign sleep.

    My Wonderful Visit | Charlie Chaplin
  • Something prompted Jack to lie still and feign sleep, while he kept his gaze on the man, who was looking fixedly at him.

    Two Boys in Wyoming | Edward S. Ellis
  • In addition to the bedtime story, Peter found it necessary to feign great weariness in order to suggest a similar feeling in Pat.

    The Boy Grew Older | Heywood Broun

British Dictionary definitions for feign

feign

/ (feɪn) /


verb
  1. to put on a show of (a quality or emotion); pretend: to feign innocence

  2. (tr) to make up; invent: to feign an excuse

  1. (tr) to copy; imitate: to feign someone's laugh

Origin of feign

1
C13: from Old French feindre to pretend, from Latin fingere to form, shape, invent

Derived forms of feign

  • feigner, noun
  • feigningly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012