- to put on a show of (a quality or emotion); pretend: to feign innocence
- (transitive) to make up; invent: to feign an excuse
- (transitive) to copy; imitate
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
feign /feɪn/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to pretend;
put on an appearance of:to feign sickness.
feign
(fān),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
feign′er, n.
feign′ing•ly, adv.
- to represent fictitiously;
put on an appearance of:to feign sickness. - to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse.
- to imitate deceptively:to feign another's voice.
v.i.
- to make believe;
pretend:She's only feigning, she isn't really ill.
- Latin fingere to shape, invent, feign
- Old French feign-, present stem of feindre
- Middle English fei(g)nen 1250–1300
feign′ing•ly, adv.
- 4. See pretend.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
feign /feɪn/ vb
'feign' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
assume
- counterfeit
- feint
- hypocrite
- pretend
- simulate
- act
- affect
- dissemble
- dissimulate
- fainéant
- faint
- fake
- feigned
- figment
- laugh track
- possum
- unfeigned
- sham
- simulation