feign

[feyn]

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.

3. 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.

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

3. (tr) to copy; imitate

   to feign someone's laugh

Other Word Forms

• feigningly adverb
• feigner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of feign¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of feign¹

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

Synonym Study

See pretend.

Example Sentences

Colton said she could not have imagined such a possibility when she sat in school, feigning that she had no answers to teachers’ questions simply because she could not see the board.

From Los Angeles Times

And yet, many also practice the human tendency of feigning blindness concerning topics too unpleasant to confront directly.

From Salon

When another student enters and surveys the bodies on the ground in poorly feigned shock, few manage to suppress their giggles.

From Salon

Prosecutors argued Patterson had faked a cancer diagnosis to coax the guests to her house, then poisoned them and feigned illness to ward off suspicion.

From BBC

“Go on,” Johnson says with a feigned seriousness.

From Los Angeles Times