feign

feign
    v 1: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that
         he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: {feign}, {sham},
         {pretend}, {affect}, {dissemble}]
    2: make a pretence of; "She assumed indifference, even though
       she was seething with anger"; "he feigned sleep" [syn:
       {simulate}, {assume}, {sham}, {feign}]
    

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.
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            The poet
            Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and
            floods.                               --Shak.
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   2. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to
      counterfeit; as, to feign a sickness. --Shak.
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   3. To dissemble; to conceal. [Obs.] --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]
    

36 Moby Thesaurus words for "feign":
      act, act a part, affect, assume, bluff, counterfeit, cover up,
      dissemble, dissimulate, do a bit, dramatize, fake, four-flush,
      gammon, histrionize, let on, let on like, make a pretense,
      make as if, make believe, make like, make out like, overact, play,
      play a part, play a scene, play possum, playact, pretend, profess,
      put on, put on airs, sham, simulate, tug the heartstrings, wear