FEIGN
What does "FEIGN" mean?
To pretend to have or feel something one does not actually have or feel.
Meanings
- To put on a false appearance of a feeling, state, or quality. She feigned surprise when they shouted the announcement.
- To invent or fabricate (a story or excuse). He feigned an illness to avoid the meeting.
Did you know?
- To 'feign' is, at root, to sculpt: its Latin ancestor 'fingere' meant to shape clay, and the same root molded the words 'fiction', 'figment', and 'figure'.
Word origin
From Latin 'fingere' meaning 'to shape, mold, or form', via Old French 'feindre'; the same root that lets a sculptor 'fashion' clay lets a liar 'fashion' a false face, and it also gives us 'fiction' and 'figment'.
Remember it
FEIGN has a silent G, like the feeling it fakes - the G is there but doing nothing, just like the emotion you're pretending to have.
A little poem
She shaped a smile she did not own,
and wore the clay until it grew to bone.
couplet
Wordplay
- I tried to feign interest in spelling, but the silent G gave me away.
What it teaches
A face you mold long enough can quietly become the one you wear.
Quick facts
What does FEIGN mean?
To pretend to have or feel something one does not actually have or feel.
Is FEIGN a valid word?
Yes — FEIGN is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is FEIGN?
FEIGN has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does FEIGN come from?
From Latin 'fingere' meaning 'to shape, mold, or form', via Old French 'feindre'; the same root that lets a sculptor 'fashion' clay lets a liar 'fashion' a false face, and it also gives us 'fiction' and 'figment'.
What can FEIGN teach us?
A face you mold long enough can quietly become the one you wear.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.