feigns

Feigns is the third-person singular present tense of the verb feign, meaning to pretend to be or to pretend that something is true, or to fabricate a false representation in order to mislead others. The act of feigning can involve emotions, states, intentions, or facts, and it is commonly used to describe deliberate deception or simulation. Common expressions include feign illness, feign interest, feign ignorance, and feign surprise.

Etymology: Feign derives from Old French feignir, from Latin fingere "to shape, fashion, invent." The related forms feigned, feigning, and feignings refer to the past tense, present participle, and gerund, respectively.

Usage notes: Feign is typically transitive and followed directly by a noun phrase or by a clause in some contexts (feign sleep; feign to be asleep is less common). The phrase feign that is rarer and often replaced by feign to be or feign to have. In many contexts, feigning is treated as a formal or literary term, signaling deliberate deceit or strategic display rather than spontaneous emotion.

Examples: She feigns sleep to avoid questions. He feigns interest but checks his watch constantly. The army used feigned retreats as a tactic to mislead the enemy.

See also: pretend, simulate, sham, deceit, deception.