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Often times we encounter people who will fake an interest in what you have to say even if they know everything about what you are about to say. For instance someone who is relating an article they may have come across on the internet and you pretend to have not read it only to elicit their opinion about the said article.

The intentions for why they do this might be positive (just being nice) or negative (to see if one speaks truthfully)

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  • Just to point out, parents often fake their interest to get their child's opinion but their motivation is not negative. They want to help the child to learn how to interact and grow. That is a good thing. In all other cases, your point holds true. Commented Dec 22, 2015 at 17:28

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Not a single word, but the expression play ignorant may fit your context:

  • to pretend to be ignorant (of something). I played ignorant even though I knew about the surprise party. John played dumb when I asked him if he knew who had been on the telephone.

(McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs)

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