feign
verb
[ feɪn ]
• pretend to be affected by (a feeling, state, or injury).
• "she feigned nervousness"
Similar:
simulate,
fake,
sham,
affect,
give the appearance of,
make a show of,
make a pretence of,
play at,
go through the motions of,
put on,
pretend,
put it on,
bluff,
pose,
posture,
masquerade,
make believe,
act,
play-act,
go through the motions,
put on a false display,
malinger,
kid,
mess,
pretended,
simulated,
assumed,
affected,
artificial,
insincere,
put-on,
faked,
false,
apparent,
ostensible,
seeming,
surface,
avowed,
professed,
pseudo,
phoney,
fakey,
cod,
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French feign-, stem of feindre, from Latin fingere ‘mould, contrive’. Senses in Middle English (taken from Latin) included ‘make something’, ‘invent a story, excuse, or allegation’, hence ‘make a pretence of a feeling or response’. Compare with fiction and figment.
