Feign

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              There are no such things done as thou sayest, but
              thou feignest them out of thine own heart. --Neh.
                                                    vi. 8.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The poet
              Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and
              floods.                               --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to
        counterfeit; as, to feign a sickness. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To dissemble; to conceal. [Obs.] --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  feign
       v 1: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he
            was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: {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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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