feint
in
The Broken Gun
(Auto-generated)

any distracting or deceptive maneuver; or the act of making the maneuver

Feint is most typically used for physical maneuvers as when boxing, fencing, or moving troops where a mock attack diverts attention from the real attack. But it can also be used much more generally as when Charlotte Bronte wrote of "a mere feint of politeness."

Less commonly, feint is a non-standard spelling of faint in the sense of something that is barley perceptible.