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

Was the "two-week deadline" for negotations a feint?

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2025

It's a feint, an effort to scare his opponents into believing his ascension is unstoppable, so they stop fighting him.

From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2023

"They shall not cross, Cat," Edmure scrawled, "Lord Tywin is marching to the southeast. A feint perhaps, or full retreat, it matters not. They shall not cross."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

War is filled with flopping, feints and trickery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Kvaratskhelia's feints cause Stanisic to step up, rendering him unable to track the run in behind.

From BBC ● May 30, 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

The narrative is less sucker punch than brilliant feints and jabs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2025

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

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

The fight begun with both athletes showing patience as Volkanovski feinted and switched stances, while Makhachev looked for openings.

From BBC ● Feb. 12, 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

Wielding their harmless foils, Hamlet and Laertes thrust and feinted with a mortal seriousness.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Salesses knows exactly how to get these giants pounding up and down the court — pivoting, feinting, shooting!

From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2023

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

First, Turnbull slipped after feinting to play the ball out in his own box, and that allowed Mitchel Bakker to square for Hincapie to sweep home the opener on 25 minutes.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2021

A tournament-level chess player in his youth, he could be thinking several moves ahead, feinting to disguise his true strategy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2021

Bull set him down and they pretended to box each other, weaving and feinting with exaggerated aggressiveness, cuffing each other on the head and punching each other on the shoulders.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy