Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

feign

/feɪn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.58 in modern English

Syllables: feign
IPA: /feɪn/

9

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To make a false show or pretence of; to counterfeit or simulate.

verb

To imagine; to invent; to pretend to do something.

verb

To make an action as if doing one thing, but actually doing another, for example to trick an opponent; to feint.

Example Sentences

"The pupil feigned sickness on the day of his exam."
"They feigned her signature on the cheque."
"[T]he truest poetry is the most feigning, and lovers are given to poetry, and what they swear in poetry may be said as lovers they do feign."
"She had not been much of a dissembler, until now her loneliness taught her to feign."
"He feigned that he had gone home at the appointed time."
"Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart."

Etymology

From Middle English feynen, feinen, borrowed from Old French feindre (“to pretend”), from Latin fingere (“to form, shape, invent”). Compare French feignant (present participle of feindre, literally “feigning”). Also compare feint, figment and fiction.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *dʰeyǵʰ-, feynen, feindre, fingo

Inflected Forms

feigns (present, singular) feigning (participle, present) feigned (participle, past) feigned (past)

Derived Forms

feignable feigned feigner feignful unfeigned

Synonyms

front put on airs deceive sham pretend affect dissemble simulate assume

Homonyms

fane foehn fain phane

Rhymes With

main pain campaign train brain explain remain gain plane rain chain maintain

Questions

How do you pronounce feign?: The recorded pronunciation is /feɪn/.
What does feign mean?: To make a false show or pretence of; to counterfeit or simulate.
Where does feign come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce feign

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “feign”.
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