feigned

adjective

ˈfānd 

1

: fictitious

Was his account actual or feigned?

2

: not genuine or real

showered him with feigned compliments

Synonyms

• affected
• artificial
• assumed
• bogus
• contrived
• factitious
• fake
• false
• forced
• mechanical
• mock
• phony
• phoney
• plastic
• pretended
• pseudo
• put-on
• sham
• simulated
• spurious
• strained
• unnatural

Examples of feigned in a Sentence

the feigned applause that polite people give after a bad concert

the feigned looks of innocence I got when I asked who had broken the lamp

Recent Examples on the Web

The White Lotus as a whole is generally on the side of honesty over feigned politeness, but Laurie is going so nuclear, so quickly, that perhaps this will turn out to be an exception. —Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 23 Mar. 2025

Contrary to Camp Cuomo’s feigned ignorance, the absence of criminal charges in no way suggests that Cuomo is innocent. —Erica Vladimer, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2025

In a moment of feigned indignation, Sandler threatened to storm out of the ceremony, which prompted O'Brien to apologize for his attack. —Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025

Fey and Poehler interrupted the host’s monologue, much to his (feigned) surprise, and critiqued his joke telling. —Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English feyned, feigned, from past participle of feynen "to feign"

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for feigned

• abstained
• arraigned
• attained
• bloodstained
• campaigned
• complained
• constrained
• contained
• curtained
• detained
• disdained
• distrained