feigning

Noun
Synonyms: pretensepretencedissemblingpretendingsimulation

WordNet 3.0

Noun (2)

  1. pretending with intention to deceiveSynonyms: pretensepretencedissembling
  2. the act of giving a false appearance“his conformity was only pretending”Synonyms: pretensepretencepretendingsimulation
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Webster's Dictionary (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]

Feigning \Feign"ing\, a. That feigns; insincere; not genuine; false. -- Feign"ing*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]
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