feign

(fān)

v., feigned, feign·ing, feigns.

v.tr.

1. 1. To give a false appearance of: feign sleep.
   2. To represent falsely; pretend to: feign authorship of a novel.
2. To imitate so as to deceive: feign another's voice.
3. To fabricate: feigned an excuse.
4. Archaic. To invent or imagine.

v.intr.
To pretend; dissemble.

[Middle English feinen, from Old French feindre, from Latin fingere, to shape, form.]

View more Literature & Language videos

verb

1. To take on or give a false appearance of: affect², assume, counterfeit, fake, pretend, put on, sham, simulate. Idioms: make believe. See true/false.
2. To behave affectedly or insincerely or take on a false or misleading appearance of: act, counterfeit, dissemble, fake, play-act, pose, pretend, put on, sham, simulate. See honest/dishonest, true/false.
3. To contrive and present as genuine: counterfeit, fake, pretend, simulate. Idioms: make believe, put on an act. See true/false.
4. To claim or allege insincerely or falsely: pretend, profess. See true/false.

v

Definition: pretend
Antonyms: be true

IN BRIEF: To state or act as if true.

It is never helpful to feign ignorance during a test.

Tutor's tip: The prince chose to "feign" (to pretend) euphoria as he left the "fane" (a place of worship), telling his beloved that he would "fain" (ready; eager; happily) slay any dragon to save her.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

For a list of words related to feign, see:

• Falsehood, Pretense, and Exaggeration - feign: (vb) give false appearance of; pretend

---

See words rhyming with "feign."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Feign.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - finde på, opdigte, lade som om
v. intr. - foregive, simulere, hykle

Nederlands (Dutch)
veinzen, verzinnen, vervalsen

Français (French)
v. tr. - feindre, simuler, affecter
v. intr. - feindre, simuler

Deutsch (German)
v. - vortäuschen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - προσποιούμαι, καμώνομαι

Italiano (Italian)
far finta, fingere, simulare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - fingir

Русский (Russian)
притворяться, симулировать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - fingir, simular, aparentar
v. intr. - fingir

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - hitta på, låtsas, förställa sig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
装作, 假装, 捏造, 做假

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 裝作, 假裝, 捏造
v. intr. - 做假, 假裝

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - ~을 가장하다
v. intr. - 속이다, 가장하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 装う, つくる, でっちあげる, 人前を偽る, 話を作り上げる, 見せかける

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يتظاهر , يدعي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮בדה, המציא‬
v. intr. - ‮התחזה, העמיד פנים‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.