1 feign | Definition of feign
Logo
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

feign

verb
\ ˈfān How to pronounce feign (audio) \
feigned; feigning; feigns

Definition of feign

transitive verb

1a : to give a false appearance of : induce as a false impression feign death
b : to assert as if true : pretend He feigned that he was not feeling well so that he could leave the party early.

2 archaic

a : invent, imagine
b : to give fictional representation to
3 obsolete : disguise, conceal

intransitive verb

: pretend, dissemble He told the truth because he was no good at feigning.
Other Words from feign Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym The Shape of the History of Feign More Example Sentences Learn More about feign

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from feign

feigner noun

Choose the Right Synonym for feign

assume, affect, pretend, simulate, feign, counterfeit, sham mean to put on a false or deceptive appearance. assume often implies a justifiable motive rather than an intent to deceive. assumed an air of cheerfulness around the patients affect implies making a false show of possessing, using, or feeling. affected an interest in art pretend implies an overt and sustained false appearance. pretended that nothing had happened simulate suggests a close imitation of the appearance of something. cosmetics that simulate a suntan feign implies more artful invention than pretend, less specific mimicry than simulate. feigned sickness counterfeit implies achieving the highest degree of verisimilitude of any of these words. an actor counterfeiting drunkenness sham implies an obvious falseness that fools only the gullible. shammed a most unconvincing limp

The Shape of the History of Feign

Feign is all about faking it, but that hasn't always been so. In one of its earliest senses, feign meant "to fashion, form, or shape." That meaning is true to the term's Latin ancestor: the verb fingere, which also means "to shape." The current senses of feign still retain the essence of the Latin source, since to feign something, such as surprise or an illness, requires one to fashion an impression or shape an image. Several other English words that trace to the same ancestor refer to things that are shaped with either the hands, as in figure and effigy, or the imagination, as in fiction and figment.

Examples of feign in a Sentence

I wince, feigning interest in a TV Guide and mumbling a hello. — Douglas Coupland, Generation X, 1991 Success keeps her busy. "Relaxation?" she asks, feigning puzzlement. "What's that?" — Jennifer Johnston, New Woman, November 1990 … Brad would sometimes clown or feign clumsiness just to crack her composed expression with a blush or a disapproving frown. — John Updike, Trust Me, 1987 I would never feign illness just to get out of a test.
See More

Recent Examples on the Web

 Another commonality is that both tend to elicit a lot of shock and dismay, or at least feigned shock and dismay. — Kyle Smith, National Review, "‘Don’t Apologize’: Ricky Gervais Takes On Verbal Terrorism," 16 Aug. 2019 On Monday, during the 49ers’ first padded practice, Garoppolo was pressured, took off running up the middle and … feigned a slide before he could be touched down by safety Adrian Colbert. — Eric Branch, SFChronicle.com, "49ers’ practice report: Garoppolo scrambles ... and slides!," 29 July 2019 The younger rams were testing their strength by feigning battle, pushing one another, gently bumping horns, but never challenging the big ram. — Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Two old-timers meet in the hot desert," 17 Aug. 2019 Arriving in Changchun with her mother and father, Billi finds everyone around her feigning happiness with contagious fervor. — Joe Morgenstern, WSJ, "‘The Farewell’ Review: Tiptoeing Through a Family Charade," 11 July 2019 To be fair, that injury would rule Coutinho out for the first three weeks of his Barcelona career so at least the Brazilian didn't feign an injury in order to get his dream move. — SI.com, "5 Times Players Linked With Barcelona Didn't Turn up for Training," 12 July 2019 The film’s acting is either overripe (Owen, Watts) or undercooked (MacKay), and Ridley herself only lets loose when feigning madness in the climactic scenes. — Ty Burr, BostonGlobe.com, "‘Ophelia’ looks at ‘Hamlet’ from a very different perspective," 26 June 2019 In contrast, even while scrubbing its fingerprints off the Netflix series, Marvel is at least feigning to impress that the Disney+ shows will relate to its upcoming movies. — Isaac Feldberg, Fortune, "How Marvel Is Betting Big on Disney+ in Phase Four," 22 July 2019 This fuels suspicion that Lopez is using the French press to feign interest from the European champions as a means to raise the price for Pépé, in an attempt to fully capitalise on the winger's inevitable departure from the club. — SI.com, "Nicolas Pepe: Lille Owner Talks Up Supposed Liverpool Interest as Arsenal & Inter Make 'Firm Bids'," 18 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'feign.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of feign

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

History and Etymology for feign

Middle English feynen, feignen "to make, fabricate, make a likeness of, dissemble, pretend to be," borrowed from Anglo-French feign-, stem of feindre, going back to Latin fingere "to mold, fashion, make a likeness of, pretend to be," going back to Indo-European *dhi-n-ǵh- (whence also Old Irish con-utuinc "builds, constructs"), present tense derivative of *dhei̯ǵh- "knead, shape," whence Gothic digan "to knead, form from clay," Old Church Slavic ziždǫ, zĭdati "to build," Lithuanian žiedžiù, žiẽsti "to form, shape (from clay)" (Balto-Slavic with metathesis of stop consonants), Armenian edēz "(s/he) heaped up," Sanskrit pari…déhat "will cover over, smear over"

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for feign

feign

verb
How to pronounce feign (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of feign

: to pretend to feel or be affected by (something)

See the full definition for feign in the English Language Learners Dictionary

feign

verb
\ ˈfān How to pronounce feign (audio) \
feigned; feigning

Kids Definition of feign

WORD OF THE DAY

See Definitions and Examples

Get Word of the Day daily email!