fingere

to pretend, to feign

verb FEEN-jeh-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin fingere, 'to shape, feign'.

Also means

to fake

Usage Note

Fingere is irregular — past participle finto. It takes avere. It is often followed by di + infinitive: finge di dormire ('he pretends to be sleeping'). The adjective finto also means 'fake' or 'artificial': fiori finti ('fake flowers').

Examples

"Stava fingendo di non sapere."

Natural Translation

She was pretending not to know.

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