Adjacent Words

Feign definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

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. Nehemiah 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. 1 Samuel 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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French feign-, stem of feindre, from Latin fingere to shape, feign — more at dough Date: 13th century intransitive verb pretend, dissemble transitive verb 1. a. to give a false appearance of ; induce as a false impression <feign death> b. to assert as if true ; pretend 2. archaic a. invent, imagine b. to give fictional representation to 3. obsolete disguise, conceal Synonyms: see assume • feigner noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(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

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Invent, imagine, devise, fabricate, forge. 2. Counterfeit, simulate, affect, assume, pretend to, put on, make a show of.

Moby Thesaurus

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