feign

There’s no more reason for Kelly to feign deference to journalistic standards, because there’s no more glittering future in them.

From Slate ● May 6, 2026

Or that night we stumbled onto a giant controlled burn and saw the flames reach up and tickle the moon and recognized the gnawing feeling that fire is something we can only feign to control.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026

The perpetrator would have to keep at least one clue from his victims to feign innocence, but a subtle inconsistency would allow others to infer his guilt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

I would feign shock or dismay at its popularity if I didn’t already know that we are a nation of self-serving masochists.

From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2025

I thought immediately that he was treating me differently from his other patients and rather than feign an ignorance that might alert his suspicions I asked if this was his usual method.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

She feigns outrage loudly, according to people who like her, and yells maniacally, according to people who don’t.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

When I confront the group of boys, one feigns innocence, claiming he’d been speaking to his friend.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2024

Lydia, who craves to be seen by her family, feigns craving death because of her relationship with Barbara and Adam, who live in the afterlife.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2024

When the film momentarily feigns to look like a film, the image zooms out to reveal that the handsome cinematography is really a true crime docuseries streaming on June’s laptop.

From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2023

While Jasper, his spaniel ears a-droop, feigns indifference to the arrival of the cakes.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

She’d turned to face me head-on, eyes widened in feigned shock, her right hand over her heart.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

The antics of the “bewitched” girls are so clearly feigned that the audience can recognize the corrupt motivations of the powerful people who are feeding the frenzy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

That leaves only the feigned feud between Paul and Gronkowski — Brady’s longtime pal and New England Patriots teammate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026

As those scenes played in New York, Swift affectionately turned to Saunders and yelled, "YES!" as he giggled and covered his face in feigned shyness.

From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025

The letter covered seventeen handwritten pages, its tone jumping from self-pity to anger to irony to guilt to a kind of feigned indifference.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

"Showing awareness could suggest a degree of mutual understanding," but feigning ignorance signals that the issue could become a key bargaining point in any future talks with Trump, Hong said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

In some cases, bureaucrats resorted to ostentatious gestures and outright fraud, feigning adherence to unrealistic targets and masking underperformance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Spaeny: It’s what every actor is thinking except they’re feigning ...

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

However, the “Hannah Montana” star did not end her mockery there—going on to accuse Cooper of feigning innocence about the proximity of their properties.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 31, 2026

“It seems odd to invite Candace over on a random weeknight. It’s Monday. Shouldn’t this be, like, a weekend thing? That way, Aunt J could join us,” he says, feigning innocence.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold