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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Feigning

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.

Feigning

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

Wiktionary
feigning

n. Act of one who feigns; fakery; deceit. vb. (present participle of feign English)

WordNet
feigning
  1. n. pretending with intention to deceive [syn: pretense, pretence, dissembling]

  2. the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was only pretending" [syn: pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation]

Usage examples of "feigning".

As I did not see Leah at supper-time I imagined that she was feigning illness to avoid meeting me, and I felt very much obliged to her on this account.

I found her alone with the physician Doro, who, feigning to be on a professional visit, wrote a prescription, felt her pulse, and went off.

I made no answer, and sat down to table, and feigning good humour ate what was on the table, refusing to touch those dishes which had been taken away.

Lynan safe by keeping him out of the court as much as possible, by feigning indifference to him, by not letting him hold those minor offices her other children used to practice their royal responsibilities.

The exception to this was Genevieve, who was feigning carrying a bairn in her arms, and Charlotte, who was hobbling along with the crutch she typically tried not to use.

He expelled a mighty breath and marched back to where his reluctant prisoner waited, feigning indifference.

Suspecting his motives, and being unshakably in love with him, Olga has played along, feigning indifference to him even to his face, while actually more in love than ever.

The impatient traveler does not pass on the message when she returns, but hastens to possess her, manages no more than a premature ejaculation and then, feigning to pop out to buy a cigar while she cooks dinner, returns to the station and carries on to his destination.

All these months, you neglected me and avoided my bed, feigning illness and weakness, spurning my affections, and all the while you were falling under the spell of this.

I am comforted by the fact that some, more pious and learned than I, have found nothing harmful in this Tale or its feignings as a 'myth'.