# feint

> English word · Noun · IPA /feɪnt/ · frequency rank #51,701

## Definitions
1. A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.
2. A blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part.
3. Something feigned; a false or pretend appearance; a pretence or stratagem.

## Etymology
The noun is borrowed from French feinte (“dummy, feint”), from feindre (“to fake, feign”), from Old French feindre, faindre, from Latin fingere, the present active infinitive of fingō (“to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble, feign, pretend; to fashion, form, shape”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Italian finta
* Occitan fencha, fenha
* Old Spanish finta (modern Spanish finta (“dummy, feint”))

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/feint