Word.ws English Dictionary

feigned

/ˈfeɪnd/

feigned adjective: being a pretense, simulation, or counterfeit, or something false or fraudulent. Also the simple past and past participle of feign.

Adjective

feigned (not comparable)

  1. Being a pretense, simulation, or counterfeit, or something false or fraudulent.
    • I have discovered that a feigned familiarity in great ones is a note of certain usurpation on the less. For great and popular men feign themselves to be servants to others to make those slaves to them. So the fisher provides bait for the trout, roach, dace, &c., that they may be food to him.1641 (posth.), Ben Jonson. Discoveries Made upon Men and Matters, "Mores aulici"
    • "I have passed my word," said Jowl with feigned reluctance, "and I'll keep it. When does this match come off? I wish it was over. -- To-night?"1841, Charles Dickens, chapter 9, in The Old Curiosity Shop, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2014

Also used as

feigned is also the simple past and past participle of feign.

Examples of feigned in a sentence

  • He feigned that he had gone home at the appointed time.
  • The pupil feigned sickness on the day of his exam.
  • I examined a man who frequently feigned illness so he could stay home from work.

All 16 example sentences with feigned

Words formed from feigned

Phrases with feigned

Words that rhyme with feigned

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about feigned

What does feigned mean?
Feigned means being a pretense, simulation, or counterfeit, or something false or fraudulent.
What part of speech is feigned?
Feigned is an adjective.
How do you pronounce feigned?
Feigned is pronounced /ˈfeɪnd/.

Words near feigned in the dictionary

  1. Feighner criterion
  2. Feight
  3. Feights
  4. feign
  5. feignable
  6. feigned
  7. feigned issue
  8. feigned issues
  9. feignedly
  10. feignedness
  11. feigner

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: feigned (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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