feign

American  

[feyn] / feɪn /

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.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make believe; pretend.

   She's only feigning, she isn't really ill.

feign British  

/ 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

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Related Words

See pretend.

Other Word Forms

• feigner noun
• feigningly adverb

Etymology

Origin of feign

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”

Explanation

For a more formal way to say pretend to or imitate, choose the verb feign. You might feign indifference when you hear about some gossip, but you're probably dying to know. Feign comes from the Latin fingere, "to devise, fabricate." The word fiction comes from the same source, so if you feign something such as sleep, you give off the fiction that you are sleeping. This can be done to be polite but also to deceive such as when you feign an injury or the flu so you can stay home from school or work. You can also feign an accent, though some are better at this than others.

Example Sentences

Or that night we stumbled onto a giant controlled burn and saw the flames reach up and tickle the moon and recognized the gnawing feeling that fire is something we can only feign to control.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 5, 2026

The difference: Your guests won’t have to feign enthusiasm after the thirtieth photo of you “holding up” the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

The Vault dwellers may have chin-tentacles and sinister secrets, but they understand something essential.In the post-apocalypse, the ability to feign normalcy — and further, to curate pleasure — is a luxury.

From Salon • May 12, 2025

Simply put, a player could feign injury to prevent the resumption of play and slow their opponents' momentum - but it is virtually impossible to prove.

From BBC • Sep. 23, 2024

In the morning I woke Mandy and tried to convince her to feign illness so she could call Lucinda immediately.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine