Feign FEIGN, v.t. fane. [L. fingo. The Latin forms fictum, fictus,
whence figura, figure, also fucus.] 1. To invent or imagine; to form
an idea or conception of something not real. There are no such things
done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. Neh
6. 2. To make a show of; to pretend; to assume a false appearance;
to counterfeit. I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner. 2 Sam
14. She feigns a laugh. 3. To represent falsely; to pretend; to
form and relate a fictitious tale. The poet did feign that Orpheus
drew trees, stones, and floods. 4. To dissemble; to conceal. Obs.
feign
v 1: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that
he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: feign, sham,
pretend, affect, dissemble]
2: make a pretence of; "She assumed indifference, even though
she was seething with anger"; "he feigned sleep" [syn:
simulate, assume, sham, feign]
feign verbEtymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French feign-, stem
of feindre, from Latin fingere to shape, feign — more at
doughDate: 13th century intransitive verbpretend, dissembletransitive verb1.a. to give a false appearance of ; induce as a
false impression <feign death> b. to assert as if
true ;pretend2.archaica.invent, imagineb. to give
fictional representation to
3.obsoletedisguise, concealSynonyms:seeassume • feignernoun
feign v. 1 tr. simulate; pretend to be affected by (feign madness). 2 tr. archaic invent (an excuse etc.). 3 intr. indulge in pretence. Etymology: ME f. feign- stem of OF
feindre f. L fingere mould, contrive
feign
(feigns, feigning, feigned)
If someone feigns a particular feeling, attitude, or physical condition, they try to make
other people think that they have it or are experiencing it, although this is not true. (FORMAL)
One morning, I didn't want to go to school, and decided to feign illness...'Giles phoned this morning,' Mirella said with feigned indifference.= affect
VERB: V n, V-ed, also V to-inf
feign
feɪn v. 1 tr. simulate; pretend to be affected by (feign madness). 2
tr. archaic invent (an excuse etc.). 3 intr. indulge in pretence. [ME f. feign-
stem of OF feindre f. L fingere mould, contrive]
Feign \Feign\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feigned; p. pr. & vb. n.
Feigning.] [OE. feinen, F. feindre (p. pr. feignant), fr.
L. fingere; akin to L. figura figure,and E. dough. See
Dough, and cf. Figure, Faint, Effigy, Fiction.]
1. To give a mental existence to, as to something not real or
actual; to imagine; to invent; hence, to pretend; to form
and relate as if true.
There are no such things done as thou sayest, but
thou feignest them out of thine own heart. --Neh.
vi. 8.
The poet Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones,
and floods. --Shak.
2. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to
counterfeit; as, to feign a sickness. --Shak.
3. To dissemble; to conceal. [Obs.] --Spenser.
FEIGN
fan (badha, nakhar; plastos): Occurs
(1) in the sense of "to devise," "invent" as the translation of badha',
"to form," "to fashion" (Ne 6:8, "Thou feignest them out of thine own
heart"; compare 1Ki 12:33, English Versions of the Bible "devised
of his own heart"); of plastos, "formed," "molded" (2Pe 2:3, "with
reigned words make merchandise of you");
(2) in the sense of "pretense," nakhar, "to be foreign," "strange" (1Ki
14:5, "feign herself to be another woman," 1ki 14:6; compare
Ge 42:7; Pr 26:24); 'abhal, "to mourn," "to act as a mourner" (2Sa
14:2); halal, "to make a show," Hithpael, "to be mad," "to feign madness"
(of David, 1Sa 21:13; compare Jer 25:16; 50:38); hupokrinomai,
"to give judgment, or act, under a mask" (Lu 20:20, "who feigned
themselves to be righteous");
(3) in the sense of "deceit" "fraud," "insincerity," mirmah, "prayer, that
goeth not out of feigned lips" (Ps 17:1); sheqer, "falsehood," "a
lie," "Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly"
(Jer 3:10; compare /APC 2Esdras 8:28); kahash, "to lie,"
"to feign, or flatter" (2Sa 12:45; Ps 18:44; 66:3; 81:15), where the text
of the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American),
"shall submit themselves," is rendered the margin (the King James Version
and the Revised Version (British and American)), "yield feigned obedience,
Hebrew lie." the Revised Version (British and American) has "feign" for "make"
(2Sa 13:5), and "feigned" for "made" (2Sa 13:6).
W. L. Walker
36 Moby Thesaurus words for "feign":
act, act a part, affect, assume, bluff, counterfeit, cover up,
dissemble, dissimulate, do a bit, dramatize, fake, four-flush,
gammon, histrionize, let on, let on like, make a pretense,
make as if, make believe, make like, make out like, overact, play,
play a part, play a scene, play possum, playact, pretend, profess,
put on, put on airs, sham, simulate, tug the heartstrings, wear
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