sham

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃæm/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

Probably a dialectal form of shame.

Adjective

sham

1. Intended to deceive; false.

   It was only a sham wedding: they didn't care much for one another, but wanted their parents to stop hassling them.

2. counterfeit; unreal
   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 64, in The History of Pendennis. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     For this young lady was not able to carry out any emotion to the full; but had a sham enthusiasm, a sham hatred, a sham love, a sham taste, a sham grief, each of which flared and shone very vehemently for an instant, but subsided and gave place to the next sham emotion.

   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett, transl., Thucydides, Oxford: Clarendon Press, VIII.64, p. 592:

     For the subject-cities, having secured a moderate form of government, and having no fear of being called to account for their proceedings, aimed at absolute freedom; they scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians.

• mock
• See also Thesaurus:fake

Antonyms

• genuine
• sincere
• real

Derived terms

• shammish
• Uncle Sham

Translations

Noun

sham (countable and uncountable, plural shams)

1. A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.

   The time-share deal was a sham.

2. Trickery, hoaxing.

   A con-man must be skilled in the arts of sham and deceit.

3. A false front, or removable ornamental covering.
4. A decorative cover for a pillow.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• pillow sham

Verb

sham (third-person singular simple present shams, present participle shamming, simple past and past participle shammed)

1. To deceive, cheat, lie.
   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: , London: R Sare, , →OCLC:

     they find themselves fool'd and shamm'd, as we say, into a Conviction.

2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: , London: R Sare, , →OCLC:

     We must have a care that we do not […] sham fallacies upon the world for current reason.

3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

sham (uncountable)

1. (slang) Champagne.
   • 1840, M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], The Paris Sketch Book, volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, , →OCLC:

     So I orders a bottle, as if for myself; and, ‘Ma’am,’ says I, ‘will you take a glass of Sham—just one?’

Further reading

• “sham”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “sham”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “sham”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• AMHS, HMAS, HSAM, Hams, MASH, MHAs, MSHA, Mahs, Mash, SAHM, Sahm, hams, mash

Karakalpak

Etymology

From Arabic شمع.

Noun

sham

1. candle

Uzbek

Etymology

From Arabic شمع.

Noun

sham (plural shamlar)

1. candle

Declension