Feign

Definitions: Feign

Feign

Verb

1. Make believe; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache".

2. Make a pretence of; "She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger"; "he feigned sleep".

Date "feign" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1050. (references)

Note: Feign \Feign\, transitive verb. [imperative past participle Feigned; present participle verb or noun Feigning.]. (Websters 1913)

Synonyms: Feign

Synonyms: affect (v), assume (v), dissemble (v), pretend (v), sham (v), simulate (v). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Disease	Keep one's bed; feign sickness; (falsehood).
Falsehood	Dissemble, dissimulate; feign, assume, put on, pretend, make believe; play possum; play false, play a double game; coquet; act a part, play a part; affect; simulate, pass off for; counterfeit, sham, make a show of; malinger; say the grapes are sour.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Feign

English words defined with "feign": Assimulate ♦ Feine, Feyne ♦ Misfeign ♦ To make believe, To play off, To sham Abraham, To sham Abram. (references)

Specialty definitions using "feign": Patient Simulation, POLICE SURGEON, Poltroon' ♦ surgeon, chie. (references)

Etymologies containing "feign": Effigy ♦ Feine, Feyne, fiction, figment ♦ Misfeign. (references)

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	You feign ignorance, Time Lord? (Doctor Who; writing credit: Basil Caplan; Martin Defalco)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Worker Rights	India	Most transactions are carried out with the complicity of family member or neighbor, and at times the parents who know the true intent but feign ignorance. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"Feign" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 75.00% of the time. "Feign" is used about 32 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Lexical Verb (infinitive)	75%	24	71,196
Lexical Verb (base form)	21.88%	7	133,076
Noun (singular)	3.13%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	32	N/A

Expressions using "feign": feign an excuse ♦ feign death ♦ feign illness ♦ feign piety ♦ feign sickness ♦ feign simplicity. Additional references.
Hypenated Usage
	Ending with "feign": death-feign.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "feign"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		trilloj (contrive, fabricate, fudge, invent), shtirem (affect, dissemble, dissimulate, impersonate, pretend). (various references)

Arabic		‏تظاهر (affect, assume, counterfeit, demonstrate, dissemble, dissimulate, fake, feint, make believe, march, pose, posture, pretence, pretend, put on, seem, sham, show, simulate, simulation), ‏زعم (allegation, allege, pretence, pretend, say), ‏إختلق (fable), ‏دعا (allege, beckon, bid, call, claim, contend, enter a plea, fetch, invite, name, plead, profess, purport, recall, set up, summon, term, warn). (various references)

Bulgarian		симулирам (dissimulate, malinger, sham, simulate), преструвам се (affect, dissemble, dissimulate, fake, personate, pretend, profess, put it on, put on an act, sham, simulate), измислям (coin, conceive, concoct, contrive, cook up, devise, dream up, evolve, excogitate, fabricate, fake, figure out, frame up, incubate, invent, manufacture, think up, trump, weave). (various references)

Chinese		佯装 (Feigning), 假裝 (pretend). (various references)

Czech		fingovat, simulovat (malinger, simulate), předstírat (affect, dissimulate, fake, make believe, pretend, profess, sham, simulate). (various references)

Danish		foregive (give as an excuse, pretend). (various references)

Dutch		simuleren (feint, malinger, pretend, simulation), fingeren (pretend), doen alsof (give as an excuse, pretend). (various references)

Esperanto		ŝajnigi (pretend). (various references)

Faeroese		látast (give as an excuse, pretend). (various references)

Finnish		tekeytyä joksikin (affect, pretend to be, sham), teeskennellä (affect, assume an air of, be affected, dissemble, make believe, pretend, simulate). (various references)

French		feindre, simuler. (various references)

Frisian		beare (pretend). (various references)

German		simulieren (feign illness, malinger, meditate, ruminate, sham, simulate, to simulate), heucheln (be a hypocrite, dissemble, pretend, profess, sham, simulate). (various references)

Greek		προσποιούμαι (affect, feint, make believe, make out, pretend, pretend to, sham, simulate). (various references)

Hebrew		ל�"עמי�" פ� ים (affect, dissimulate, make believe, pose, pretend, sham, simulate), לב�"ות (concoct, confabulate, fabricate, invent, make up). (various references)

Hungarian		tettet (dissimulate, make believe, pretend, to affect, to assume, to counterfeit, to feign, to pretend, to simulate), kitalál (fabricate, give birth, guess, invent, sprang, sprung, to contrive, to cook up, to devise, to fabricate, to feign, to find one's way out, to forge, to make up, to nick, to spring, to strike out). (various references)

Icelandic		þykjast (pretend). (various references)

Italian		fingere (act, affect, assume, counterfeit, fake, play, pretend, sham, simulate), simulare (affect, malinger, mimic, pretend, sham, simulate), ostentare (display, flaunt, make a show of, show off), dissimulare (disguise, dissemble, dissimulate, keep back, whitewash). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		見せ掛ける (to feign, to pretend), 見せかける (to feign, to pretend), 病と称する (to feign illness, to pretend to be ill), 空惚ける (to feign ignorance), 空嘯く (to feign ignorance or unconcern), 称する (to call oneself, to feign, to pretend, to purport, to take the name of), 惚ける (to be in one's dotage, to fade, to feign ignorance, to grow senile, to have a blank facial expression, to play dumb, to play innocent, to play the fool), 恍ける (to be in one's dotage, to feign ignorance, to have a blank facial expression, to play dumb, to play innocent, to play the fool), しら�'切る (anchor, annoying persistence, be tired, bothersome, croaker, heart-to-heart, intestine, sad, serious, solemn, sound of heavy snow-fall, tiresome, to be deadly silent, to be silent, to brazen it out, to feign ignorance, to play innocent, to pretend to be ignorant of, worrisome), 口�'拭う (to feign ignorance, to feign innocence, to wipe one's mouth). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		そらうそぶく (to feign ignorance or unconcern), しら�'きる (to brazen it out, to feign ignorance, to play innocent, to pretend to be ignorant of), そらとぼける (to feign ignorance), しょうする (to call oneself, to chant, to feign, to pretend, to purport, to read aloud, to recite, to take the name of), くち�'ぬぐう (to feign ignorance, to feign innocence, to wipe one's mouth), やまいとしょうする (to feign illness, to pretend to be ill), みせかける (to feign, to pretend), とぼける (to be in one's dotage, to feign ignorance, to have a blank facial expression, to play dumb, to play innocent, to play the fool). (various references)

Manx		lhiggey er (affectation, affectedness, counterfeit, dissimulate, dissimulation, feigning, feint, make-believe, pose, pretence, pretend, profess, sham, simulate, simulation). (various references)

Norwegian		late som (pretend). (various references)

Pig Latin		eignfay

Portuguese		fingir (assume, attitudinize, counterfeit, dissemble, double bed, feint, imitate, make believe, palter, play act, pose, pretend, put on, sham, simulate). (various references)

Romanian		falsifica (adulterate, alter, cook, counterfeit, debase, distort, doctor, Duff, fake, falsify, fiddle, forge, fudge, huckster, mystify, sophisticate), face pe bolnavul, simula (act, affect, assume, dissemble, imitate, make, make believe, malinger, play off, pretend, sham, simulate), se preface (adulterate, be pretending, dissemble, dissimulate, falsify, kid, make believe, make pretence of, pose, pretend, show), pretinde cã, pretexta (pretend, pretext, sham), preface (alter, change, convert, reduce, sham, simulate, swell, transform), nãscoci (concoct, contrive, cook, devise, discover, fabricate, forge, frame, fudge, get up, invent, make up, manufacture, shape, spin out, start, trump up), inventa (coin, concoct, contrive, devise, discover, fable, fabricate, find, find oneself, frame, fudge, invent, make up, manufacture, originate, plot, shape), afecta (affect, afflict, alter, appropriate, assume, concern, disorder, grieve, pretend, sham, simulate, touch, trouble), înscena (frame, stage). (various references)

Russian		симулировать (dissimulate, sham Abraham, simulate, skulk, swing the lead), притворяться (act a part, affect, assume, assume a mask, dissimulate, make believe, play a part, playact, put on a mask, simulate, wear a mask). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		simulirati (assume the appearance, dissemble, fake, malinger, simulate), pretvarati se (make as if to, make believe, pretend). (various references)

Spanish		fingir (act, affect, dissemble, fake, Fox, give as an excuse, make believe, make out, mint, pretend, sham, simulate), aparentar. (various references)

Swedish		hyckla (counterfeit, dissemble, sham, simulate). (various references)

Thai		แสร้งทำ (fake up). (various references)

Turkish		yalandan yapmak (pretend, simulate), uydurmak (accommodate, adapt, adjust, attune, concoct, conform, cook, cook up, dream up, fabricate, fake up, fashion, fib, fit, forge, frame, fudge, gear, improvise, invent, key, make up, manufacture, mint, quadrate, reconcile, romance, spin, Square, square with, suit, syntonize, tailor, talk through one's hat, tally up, tell a fib, trump up, tune, tune up), rol yapmak (act, playact, role), numarası yapmak (act, affect, make a show of, play, pretend, simulate). (various references)

Ukranian		вигадувати (coin, conceit, concoct, contrive, devise, dream up, excogitate, fabricate, fib, fudge, invent, make believe, mint, romance, think out), підробляти (adulterate, counterfeit, fake, falsify, forge, imitate, mimic, tamper), прикидатися (affect, counterfeit, dissimulate, pretend, profess, sham, simulate). (various references)

Welsh		ffugio (affect, forge), ffuantu (bluff, pretend, sham), cogio (bluff, cog, pretend, sham). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	adumbrabat, confinxit, fingere, mentiar, mentiatur, mentiemini, mentientes, mentientur, mentietur, mentimur, mentior, mentiri, mentita, mentiti, mentitur, mentitus, mentiuntur. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Language	Date	Source	Luke Chapter 20, Verse 20
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Kai parathrhsanteV apesteilan egkaqetouV upokrinomenouV eautouV dikaiouV einai ina epilabwntai autou logou eiV to paradounai auton th arch kai th exousia tou hgemonoV
Latin	405	Vulgate	Et observantes miserunt insidiatores qui se iustos simularent ut caperent eum in sermone et traderent illum principatui et potestati praesidis
Old English	990	West Saxon	þa sendun hig mid searwum þa ðe hi rihtwise leton þæt hig hine gescyldgudun and þæt hig hine gesealdon þam ealdron to dome and to þæs deman anwalde to fordemanne;
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	And thei aspieden, and senten aspieris, that feyneden hem iust, that thei schulden take hym in word, and bitaak hym to the `power of the prince, and to the power of the iustice.
Renaissance English	1526	Tyndale	And they watched him and sent forth spies which shuld fayne them selves perfecte to take him in his wordes and to delyvre him vnto the power and auctorite of the debite.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him to the power and authority of the governor.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Luke Chapter 20, Verse 20
Cebuano	¶ Ug ilang gibantayan siya, ug gipaadtoan nilag mga maniniid nga nanagpakaligdong sa ilang pagkatawo, aron unta ilang mabitik siya pinaagi sa iyang isulti, aron ilang ikatugyan siya ngadto sa kagamhanan ug sa pagbulot-an gobernador.
Croatian	Vrebajuæi na nj, poslaše uhode koji su se pravili pravednicima da ga uhvate u rijeèi pa da ga predaju oblasti i vlasti upraviteljevoj.
Danish	Og de toge Vare på ham og udsendte Lurere, der anstillede sig, som om de vare retfærdige, for at fange ham i Ord, så de kunde overgive ham til Øvrigheden og Landshøvdingens Magt.
Dutch	En zij namen Hem waar, en zonden verspieders uit, die zichzelven veinsden rechtvaardig te zijn; opdat zij Hem in Zijn rede vangen mochten, om Hem aan de heerschappij en de macht des stadhouders over te leveren.
Finnish	Ja he vartioivat häntä ja lähettivät hänen luokseen hurskaiksi tekeytyviä urkkijoita, saadakseen hänet kiinni jostakin sanasta, niin että voisivat antaa hänet esivallalle ja maaherran käsiin.
French	Ils se mirent � observer Jésus; et ils envoyèrent des gens qui feignaient d`être justes, pour lui tendre des pièges et saisir de lui quelque parole, afin de le livrer au magistrat et � l`autorité du gouverneur.
German	Und sie stellten ihm nach und sandten Laurer aus, die sich stellen sollten, als wären sie fromm, auf daß sie ihn in der Rede fingen, damit sie ihn überantworten könnten der Obrigkeit und Gewalt des Landpflegers.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	Jadi mereka mencari kesempatan yang baik. Mereka menyuap orang untuk berlaku sebagai orang yang ikhlas, dan menyuruh orang-orang itu menjebak Yesus dengan pertanyaan-pertanyaan, supaya mereka dapat menyerahkan Dia kepada wewenang dan kekuasaan gubernur.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	Maka mereka itu pun mengintai Dia, serta menyuruhkan beberapa orang penyuluh berpura-pura seolah-olah orang tulus, hendak menangkap perkataan-Nya supaya dapat menyerahkan Dia kepada pembesar dan kuasa pemerintah.
Italian	Postisi in osservazione, mandarono informatori, che si fingessero persone oneste, per coglierlo in fallo nelle sue parole e poi consegnarlo all'autorit� e al potere del governatore.
Maori	¶ Na ka ata tirohia ia e ratou, ka tonoa mai he kaiwhakarongo, ano te ahua kei to te hunga tika, hei hopu mo tana korero, kia tukua ai ia ki te rangatiratanga, ki te kaha o te kawana.
Norwegian	Og efterat de nogen tid hadde voktet på ham, sendte de lurere, som lot som de var rettferdige, for å fange ham i ord, så de kunde overgi ham til øvrigheten og til landshøvdingens makt.
Portuguese	E, aguardando oportunidade, mandaram espias, os quais se fingiam justos, para o apanharem em alguma palavra, e o entregarem � jurisdição e � autoridade do governador.
Rumanian	Au knceput sq pkndeascq pe Isus; wi au trimes niwte iscoditori, cari se prefqceau cq sknt neprihqniyi, ca sq -L prindq cu vorba wi sq -L dea pe mkna stqpknirii wi pe mkna puterii dregqtorului.
Shuar	¶ Tura Kapitiánnium suruktai tusar wakeruiniak mamikmau shuaran Jesusan akuptukarmiayi. Nu shuar pénker shuara Núnisan jeariar, Jesus nékatsuk yajauch chichakat tusar, aniastaj tusar wearmiayi. Ni chichakmarijiai uuntnum suruktai tusar Túrawarmiayi.
Spanish	Entonces acechándole, enviaron espías que simulasen ser justos, a fin de sorprenderle en sus palabras, y así entregarle al poder y autoridad del procurador.
Swahili	Basi, wakawa wanatafuta wakati wa kufaa. Wakawahonga watu fulani wajisingizie kuwa wema, wakawatuma wamnase Yesu kwa maswali, na hivyo waweze kumtia nguvuni na kumpeleka kwa wakuu wa serikali.
Swedish	Och de vaktade på honom och sände ut några som försåtligen skulle låtsa sig vara rättsinniga män, för att dessa skulle fånga honom genom något hans ord, så att de skulle kunna överlämna honom åt överheten, i landshövdingens våld.
Uma	¶ Jadi' rapali' loga to lompe'. Mpopahawa' -ra tauna hilou mpolelemata-i. Tauna toera, ntani' hewa tauna to monoa' nono-ra, tapi' patuju-ra mpo'opa kasala' lolita-na, bona rapakilu-i hi gubernur.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "feign": feigned, feigner, feigners, feigning, feigns. (additional references)
	Words containing "feign": unfeigned, unfeignedly. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Feign" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: efin, eign, fagin, Fedin, Fegina, fegine, Fehg, feien, Feige, feigh, feighn, feigi, Feigin, Feigl, feigm, feigne, feignt, feigr, feigt, fein, feion, femin, fenig, Feoga, feon, Fepg, Feuge, Feugh, feuing, Fevin, fewing, Fiegl, fiegn, fien, Figini, Figino, f'ing, fogin, foig, foing, freigang, frein, fuige, fuigi, teign, veign. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "feign" (pronounced fā"n)
3	f ā" n	fain, Fane, profane.
2	-ā" n	abstain, alane, arcane, arraign, ascertain, attain, bane, blain, brain, butane, Cain, campaign, cane, chain, champagne, Champaign, cocaine, complain, constrain, contain, crane, delaine, detain, disdain, domain, drain, entertain, explain, gain, germane, grain, humane, inane, ingrain, inhumane, insane, Jane, kain, Kane, lain, Lane, legerdemain, main, maintain, mane, moraine, mundane, obtain, ordain, overtrain, pain, pane, pertain, plain, plane, preordain, rain, refrain, regain, reign, rein, remain, restrain, retain, retrain, Romaine, sain, sane, slain, sprain, stain, strain, sustain, Swain, terrain, Thane, train, twain, urbane, vain, vane, vein, wain, wane.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "e-f-g-i-n"
	-1 letter: fine, gien, neif.
	-2 letters: eng, fen, fie, fig, fin, gen, gie, gin.
	-3 letters: ef, en, if, in, ne.
	Words containing the letters "e-f-g-i-n"
	+1 letter: feeing, feigns, feting, feuing, finger, fringe.
	+2 letters: beefing, defying, fearing, feasing, feazing, feeding, feeling, feezing, feigned, feigner, felling, felting, fencing, fending, fessing, fetting, feuding, figment, finagle, fingers, fleeing, flexing, fleying, flinger, foreign, freeing, fringed, fringes, fueling, gunfire, hefting, kerfing, leafing, pfennig, reefing, reffing, selfing.
	+3 letters: befinger, befringe, briefing, cheffing, clefting, defacing, defaming, defiling, defining, defusing, defuzing, deifying, edifying, effacing, effusing, enfacing, faceting, fanglike, feasting, feedings, feelings, feigners, feigning, feinting, feltings, fencings, feoffing, ferrying, feruling, fetching, fettling, fevering, fielding, figments, figuline, figurine, fileting, finagled, finagler, finagles, fingered, fingerer, firefang, flecking, fledging, fleecing, fleering, fleeting, flensing, fleshing, flingers, florigen, forewing, forgiven, freaking, freezing, freshing, fretting, frighten, fringier, fuelling, fungible, gentrify, gunfires, hangfire, ignified, ignifies, infringe, ingulfed, leftwing, lifelong, offering, pfennige, pfennigs, refacing, refiling, refining, refiring, refixing, reflying, refrying, refuging, refusing, refuting, reifying, sheafing, ungifted, wafering.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.