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Definition of Feign
1. Verb. Make believe with the intent to deceive. "He shammed a headache"
Generic synonyms: Belie, Misrepresent
Related verbs: Make, Make Believe, Pretend
Specialized synonyms: Play Possum, Take A Dive, Bull, Bullshit, Fake, Talk Through One's Hat, Mouth
Derivative terms: Dissembler, Dissembling, Feigning, Pretender, Pretending, Pretense, Pretense, Sham, Shammer, Shammer
2. Verb. Make a pretence of. "He feigned sleep"
Generic synonyms: Act, Dissemble, Pretend
Specialized synonyms: Play, Feint
Derivative terms: Feigning, Sham, Shammer, Shammer, Simulation
Definition of Feign
1. v. t. 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.
Definition of Feign
1. Verb. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to counterfeit. ¹
2. Verb. To give a mental existence to something that is not real or actual; to imagine; to invent; to pretend; to form and relate as if true. ¹
3. Verb. To dissemble; to conceal. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Feign
1. to pretend [v -ED, -ING, -S] - See also: pretend
Medical Definition of Feign
1. 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. 3. To dissemble; to conceal. Origin: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Feign
Literary usage of Feign
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Lusiad: Or, The Discovery of India: an Epic Poem by Luís de Camões, William Julius Mickle (1809)
"(• In those fair lawns the blest Elysium feign'd—In this assertion our author
has the authority of Strabo, a foundation sufficient for a poet. ..."
2. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: His Early Life as a Slave, His Escape by Frederick Douglass (2001)
"... with Master Thomas — His beating — Driven back to Covey's — The slaves never
sick — Natural to expect them to feign sickness — Laziness of slaveholders. ..."
3. A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words: Especially from the Dramatists by Walter William Skeat, Anthony Lawson Mayhew (1914)
"... to collogue, to flatter, fawn on', Cotgrave ; to feign agreement, Marston and
Webster, Malcontent, v. 2 ; to have a private understanding with, ..."
Other Resources:
Malay