FEIGNING

pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning

(noun) the act of giving a false appearance; “his conformity was only pretending”

pretense, pretence, feigning, dissembling

(noun) pretending with intention to deceive

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Verb

feigning

present participle of feign

Noun

feigning (plural feignings)

Act of one who feigns; fakery; deceit.

Source: Wiktionary

Feign"ing, a.

Definition: That feigns; insincere; not genuine; false.

– Feign"ing*ly, adv.

FEIGN

Feign, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feigned; p. pr. & vb. n. Feigning.] Etym: [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. There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. Neh. vi. 8. The poet Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods. Shak.

2. To represent by a false appearance of; to pretend; to counterfeit; as, to feign a sickness. Shak.

3. To dissemble; to conceal. [Obs.] Spenser.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition