to feign an excuse

  • 1feign´ing|ly — feign «fayn», transitive verb. 1. to put on a false appearance of; make believe; pretend: »Some animals feign death when in danger. SYNONYM(S): assume, affect, simulate, sham. 2. to make up to deceive; invent falsely: »to feign an excuse …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 2feign´er — feign «fayn», transitive verb. 1. to put on a false appearance of; make believe; pretend: »Some animals feign death when in danger. SYNONYM(S): assume, affect, simulate, sham. 2. to make up to deceive; invent falsely: »to feign an excuse …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 3feign — [fān] vt. [ME feinen < OFr feindre (prp. feignant) < L fingere, to touch, handle, shape: see FIGURE] 1. Obs. to form; shape 2. to make up (a story, excuse, etc.); invent; fabricate 3. to make a false show of; pretend; imitate; simulate 4.… …

    English World dictionary

  • 4feign — feigner, n. feigningly, adv. /fayn/, v.t. 1. to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness. 2. to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse. 3. to imitate deceptively: to feign another s voice. v.i. 4. to …

    Universalium

  • 5feign — [[t]feɪn[/t]] v. t. 1) to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness[/ex] 2) to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse 3) to imitate deceptively: to feign another s voice[/ex] 4) to make believe;… …

    From formal English to slang

  • 6feign — /feɪn / (say fayn) verb (t) 1. to invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse. 2. to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of: to feign sickness. 3. to imitate deceptively; simulate: *With that, Paul leapt into bed, put his …

  • 7feign — v. 1 tr. simulate; pretend to be affected by (feign madness). 2 tr. archaic invent (an excuse etc.). 3 intr. indulge in pretence. Etymology: ME f. feign stem of OF feindre f. L fingere mould, contrive …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 8international relations — a branch of political science dealing with the relations between nations. [1970 75] * * * Study of the relations of states with each other and with international organizations and certain subnational entities (e.g., bureaucracies and political… …

    Universalium

  • 9cover up — Synonyms and related words: act, act a part, affect, alibi, apology, apply to, assume, be the goat, becloud, befog, blanket, blind, block, bluff, camouflage, canopy, cloak, clothe, cloud, color, conceal, cope, counterfeit, cover, cover story,… …

    Moby Thesaurus

  • 10sham — Synonyms and related words: Tartuffery, Tartuffism, act, act a part, acting, adulterated, affect, affectation, affected, affectedness, airs, airs and graces, alibi, ape, apocryphal, apology, appearance, artificial, artificiality, assume, assumed …

    Moby Thesaurus