as in pretending
to present a false appearance of
I would never feign illness just to get out of a test
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of feigning
Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 20 Mar. 2026
Thanks for being there and at least feigning interest in my oddball life.
—Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 18 Mar. 2026
Dillon Brooks antagonizing, Devin Booker feigning indifference.
—Jason Quick, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Camille smirks into her wine, feigning terror but secretly gleeful at the display.
—Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
Akhparian asked while patting himself down and feigning to be in search of a weapon.
—Linh Tat, Daily News, 8 Feb. 2026
Taylor ran his route perfectly, feigning a move to his left before turning upfield and finding a sliver of open space in the end zone.
—Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Feb. 2026
Prosecutors noted that even after Navy officials began to scrutinize his activities, Butler attempted to conceal his identity by using a fake name and feigning employment with a fictitious fuel division of a separate company.
—Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2026
Katz said, feigning familiarity with the leader’s influence and drawing laughs from the audience.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Verb
When Zuccarello took a swipe with his stick and smacked McCarron in the leg, the big man responded with a Oscar-worthy acting job, feigning like he had been slashed on the wrist.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 20 Mar. 2026
Thanks for being there and at least feigning interest in my oddball life.
—Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 18 Mar. 2026
Dillon Brooks antagonizing, Devin Booker feigning indifference.
—Jason Quick, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Camille smirks into her wine, feigning terror but secretly gleeful at the display.
—Literary Hub, 24 Feb. 2026
Akhparian asked while patting himself down and feigning to be in search of a weapon.
—Linh Tat, Daily News, 8 Feb. 2026
Taylor ran his route perfectly, feigning a move to his left before turning upfield and finding a sliver of open space in the end zone.
—Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Feb. 2026
Prosecutors noted that even after Navy officials began to scrutinize his activities, Butler attempted to conceal his identity by using a fake name and feigning employment with a fictitious fuel division of a separate company.
—Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2026
Katz said, feigning familiarity with the leader’s influence and drawing laughs from the audience.
—Dave Smith, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for feigning
Noun
-
To investigate, the researchers combined spectroscopy experiments with simulations to track how energy flows through the material.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Apr. 2026
-
In order to measure AI’s tendency to give responses aligning with trends rather than logic, researchers tested seven models, including GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, across 15,000 simulations and scenarios.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In the office a week later, Jones continued pacing back and forth in the warehouse, pretending to be in a war movie while Buckley was in the hallway, calling the police.—
Josh Owens,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Kingston police launched an investigation last week after the Silver Lake Regional High School employee, whose name was not released, was allegedly seen having conversations with a social media streamer pretending to be a young girl.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
He was extradited to the state last Friday and charged with second-degree larceny and second-degree forgery, state police said.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Florentino Antonio Diaz is facing 29 charges — including grand theft, scheme to defraud and forgery — in connection with a series of unauthorized wire transfers from the Wynwood BID general fund to his personal bank account, Rundle said.—
Sofia Saric,
Miami Herald,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
His findings reflect the experience of the company’s Frontier Red Team, a group of 15 Anthropic employees tasked with challenging cybersecurity by simulating adversarial attacks.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The cell also passed nail penetration tests, simulating an internal short circuit, with complete structural integrity.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
McEnelly played defense the rest of the way, mixing in fakes where needed to keep Welsh at bay.—
Twin Cities,
Twin Cities,
22 Mar. 2026
-
People may just give up on trying to sort the real from the fake.—
Nick Dothée,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The operation triggered a political shift in Caracas, with then–Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assuming power and moving to rebuild energy ties with Washington.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Currently, there are 108 IONNA locations operational with 375 NACS and 658 CCS plugs, assuming the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fueling Station Locator remains a reliable resource.—
Jonathan M. Gitlin,
ArsTechnica,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Greece, home to an extensive repository of cultural artifacts, has long contended with the proliferation of counterfeits and the looting of archaeological sites.—
Tessa Solomon,
ARTnews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Superfakes is about a small-time Chinatown luxury counterfeit dealer who enters a dangerous black-market underworld in order to fund a life of suburban respectability for her family.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Baer appeared perplexed by this coy pretense of innocence.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
-
K-pop is unusual in that there’s none of the pretense that often accompanies traditional pop music.—
Ross Raihala,
Twin Cities,
13 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Feigning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/feigning. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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