feigned surprise
Pretended to gasp
Feigned surprise is the act of pretending to be surprised when you already knew what was coming.
The performance ranges from polite social fiction—Oh, a surprise party! —to theatrical sarcasm: I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling going on here.
The phrase often appears when someone's "surprise" is transparently fake.
- wide eyesEnlarged gaze showing surprise
- exaggerated reactionDisproportionate emotional response
- theatricalExaggeratedly emotional for effect
- sarcasmIrony used to mock
- actingTemporarily holding position
disbelief · melodrama · overreaction · insincere · put-on · affected · pearl-clutching · clutching pearls · jaw drop · oh my stars · eyebrow raise · raised eyebrows · oh really · you don't say · well I never · double take · ham · irony
- fake emotionscrocodile tears, fake smile, false modesty, forced laugh, fake concern
- innocenceinnocent, innocence, purity, pure, blameless
- playing dumbblank stare, vacant stare, willful ignorance, selective memory
- condescensionpatronizing, belittling, talking down, talk down, superiority
feign, feigned, feigning, feigns, feigner, surprise, surprised, surprising, surprisingly