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  1. Dictionary

    feign
    [fān]
    verb
    feign (verb) · feigns (third person present) · feigned (past tense) · feigned (past participle) · feigning (present participle)
    1. pretend to be affected by (a feeling, state, or injury):
      "she feigned nervousness"
      Opposite:
      • archaic
        invent (a story or excuse).
      • archaic
        indulge in pretense.
    Origin
    Middle English: from Old French feign-, stem of feindre, from Latin fingere ‘mold, contrive’. Senses in Middle English (taken from Latin) included ‘make something’, ‘invent a story, excuse, or allegation’, hence ‘make a pretense of a feeling or response’. Compare with fiction and figment.
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  2. People also ask
    Feign is all about faking it, but that hasn't always been so. An early meaning of the word is "to fashion, form, or shape." That meaning comes from its Latin source: the verb fingere. In time, people began fashioning feign to suggest the act of forming, or giving shape to, false appearances.
    In time, people began fashioning feign to suggest the act of forming, or giving shape to, false appearances. assume, affect, pretend, simulate, feign, counterfeit, sham mean to put on a false or deceptive appearance. assume often implies a justifiable motive rather than an intent to deceive.
    For a more formal way to say pretend to or imitate, choose the verb feign. You might feign indifference when you hear about some gossip, but you're probably dying to know. Feign comes from the Latin fingere, "to devise, fabricate."
    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 . One morning, I didn't want to go to school, and decided to feign illness. [VERB noun] 'Giles phoned this morning,' Mirella said with feigned indifference. [VERB-ed]