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Feign

//feɪn// verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make a false show or pretence of; to counterfeit or simulate.

    "The pupil feigned sickness on the day of his exam."

  2. 2
    make believe with the intent to deceive wordnet
  3. 3
    To imagine; to invent; to pretend to do something.

    "He feigned that he had gone home at the appointed time."

  4. 4
    make a pretence of wordnet
  5. 5
    To make an action as if doing one thing, but actually doing another, for example to trick an opponent; to feint.

    "Cahill was beaten far too easily for Miller's goal, although the striker deserves the credit for the way he controlled Alan Hutton's right-wing delivery, with his back to goal, feigned to his left then went the other way and pinged a splendid left-foot shot into Hart's bottom right-hand corner."

Etymology

From Middle English feynen, feinen, borrowed from Old French feindre (“to pretend”), from Latin fingere (“to form, shape, invent”). Compare French feignant (present participle of feindre, literally “feigning”). Also compare feint and fiction.

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