feign ignorance
Act like unknowing
To feign ignorance is to pretend not to know something you actually know.
The phrase typically describes a deliberate strategy—avoiding accountability, sidestepping awkward topics, or gaining tactical advantage by appearing uninformed: When asked about the missing funds, the manager feigned ignorance.
She feigned ignorance about the surprise party.
- pretendAct as though
- naiveInnocently unsuspecting
- cluelessLacking any understanding
- dumbWitless or mute
- obliviousLacking any awareness
none the wiser · deny · look the other way · turn a blind eye · shrug · shrug it off · evasive · innocent · coy · deceive · plausible · deniability · poker face · act · blank stare · dodge · sidestep · deflect
- playing dumbblank stare, vacant stare, selective memory
- putting on an actput on an act, pretend, fake it, masquerade, sham
- turn a blind eyeoverlook, disregard, look away, willful blindness, play dumb
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
feign ignorancecome clean
Admit the full truth
show one's hand · spill the beans · let on · lay one's cards on the table · divulge
feign, ignorance, feigned, feigning, feigns, feint, feints, feinted, feinting