feint

But this is all a feint: The movie sets you up for one thing and then delivers another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The Danish director of “Drive” hasn’t made a feature film since “Neon Demon” premiered at Cannes in 2016 and this grim fairy tale feels more like a feint than a comeback.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

Perhaps this is a feint in some grand art of the deal.

From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2025

Hathaway fell for Paulo Garbisi's feint that opened space for Capuozzo to pop up from nowhere and tap down with a wonderful finish.

From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2025

Could all that talk of the Golden Company sailing west have been a feint?

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

War is filled with flopping, feints and trickery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

It was the culmination of a series of feints and bluffs in the preceding hours and days as the former reality TV star kept the world guessing.

From Barron's ● Feb. 28, 2026

In these situations, he would carry his team upfield using deceptive feints to create space from opponents pressing him.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025

It is the most delicate of dances, rife with subtle signals, attacks and feints, and deniable action.

From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2024

He made two half-hearted feints toward the basket, hoping to catch Ben off balance and get an unchallenged set shot.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Kvaratskhelia feinted to run in behind, then dropped short, then looked to run in behind, dropped short again before eventually running in behind.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

Elmas feinted past Mamadou Coulibaly on the left side of the area before curling into the far bottom corner.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 4, 2023

Juventus turned the match around completely two minutes later when Vlahović ran onto a through-ball and into the area and feinted his way past Inter defender Danilo D’Ambrosio.

From Seattle Times ● May 11, 2022

Lang hammered his entrance like the first hard few drops of an incoming storm and just as quickly feinted into an airy, gentle touch, from the ground to the clouds in an instant.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2021

Billy backed off, feinted once, jabbed, feinted again, twice, disregarded completely a right thrown by Vegas as he prepared a series of blows to the body and head.

From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers

Bud snaked his way inside, feinting in the middle distance and eating some shots on the way in — but nothing that rattled him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2023

The senior pulled out to the elbow before feinting right, going left, dusting her defender and streaking to the goal.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 27, 2023

Donato would then put his team ahead in the shootout round, feinting right and deking goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the left.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2022

Moore for a 10-yard score — a pass made possible by Newton stepping up in the pocket, feinting a scramble to draw in the safety to leave Moore open.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 21, 2021

Ignatius, feeling just as invisible standing there in Dorian’s living room, began feinting at some imaginary opponent with his cutlass to relieve his self-consciousness.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole