feigns
Acts without sincerity
Feigns is the third-person singular of feign, meaning to pretend or simulate something not genuinely felt or possessed.
Someone feigns illness to skip work, feigns interest in a boring conversation, or feigns sleep to avoid interaction: She feigns surprise whenever he brings flowers, though she expects them every Friday.
The word implies deliberate deception, usually transparent or suspected.
Acts falsely
- simulatesArtificially replicates behavior
- fakesFraudulent imitations
- affectsProduces change in
- dissemblesDisguises real feelings
playacts · poses · shams · bluffs · masquerades · impersonates · mimics · imitates
Lack of genuine feeling
- artificialityState of being contrived
- phoninessQuality of being insincere
- falsenessAbsence of truth
- hollownessState of being empty inside
disingenuousness · duplicity · hypocrisy · deceitfulness · affectation · pretension · guile · cunning
Feigns illness to avoid work
- plays possumFakes unconsciousness or death
- calls in sickReports illness to skip work
- goldbrickingFeigning effort to avoid labor
- shirksEvades required tasks
dodges · skives · hypochondria · sickie · bed rest
Causes false belief
- misleadsCauses false belief
- tricksDeceptive acts or techniques
- dupesDeceives or victims
- hoodwinksDeceives through trickery
bamboozles · beguiles · deludes · fabricates · falsifies · misrepresents · lies · distorts
pretends
Acts falsely
dissembles · playacts · poses · shams · bluffs · masquerades · impersonates · mimics · imitates · counterfeits
insincerity
Lack of genuine feeling
- artificialityState of being contrived
- phoninessQuality of being insincere
- falsenessAbsence of truth
hollowness · disingenuousness · duplicity · hypocrisy · deceitfulness · affectation · pretension · guile · cunning · slyness
malingers
Feigns illness to avoid work
- plays possumFakes unconsciousness or death
- calls in sickReports illness to skip work
- goldbrickingFeigning effort to avoid labor
crocodile tears
Insincere show of sadness
- fake smileFeigned expression of happiness
deceives
Causes false belief
hoodwinks · bamboozles · beguiles · deludes · fabricates · falsifies · misrepresents · lies · distorts · cons
- feigned humilityFake self-effacement
- feign ignoranceFake lack of knowledge
- feigned ignorancePretending not to know
- feigned surpriseFalse show of shock
- feigning injuryPretending to be hurt
- feigned interestSimulated engagement with something