You searched for: “feign
fain, feign
fain (FAYN) (adjective)
Archaic: referring to a person who is happily ready, willing; pleased, happy: They were fain, or glad, to go on their summer vacation.

Beatrice was fain to go to the party the following day.

When Lane's friend invited him to dinner, he was fain and delighted.

feign (FAYN) (verb)
To give a false appearance; to represent falsely: Janice will feign being ill on Friday so she won't have to participate in the sports' activities at school.

To say that Art was fain to go to the concert would be incorrect; however, because his friends want to go, he will feign enthusiasm and go with them.

feign (verb), feigns; feigned; feigning
1. To pretend to have a particular feeling.
2. To make believe with the intent to deceive or to make a pretence of doing something.
3. Etymology: from Old French feign-, stem of feindre, "to pretend, to represent, to imitate, to shirk"; from Latin fingere, "to touch, to handle; to devise; to fabricate, to alter, to change"; and "to form, to fashion, to shape".
To pretend to be sick.
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To simulate or to misrepresent the truth.
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To have a false appearance that something is wrong.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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This entry is located in the following unit: figur-; fig- (page 1)