sham

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See also: Sham

English

Pronunciation

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, The History of Pendennis. , volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1850, →OCLC, page 345:
      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.
    • 2024 May 23, Sam Jones, “Spanish police recover Francis Bacon painting worth €5m”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
      But the artist [] is equally famous for his drinking, gambling, his turbulent relationships, his famously chaotic studio, and for the mordant toast frequently attributed to him: “Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends.”
Synonyms
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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
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See also

Verb

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

  1. To deceive, cheat, lie.
  2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
  3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

sham (uncountable)

  1. (slang) Clipping of champagne.
    • 1840, M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], The Paris Sketch Book, volume I, London: John Macrone, , →OCLC, page 34:
      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

Anagrams

Karakalpak

Etymology

From Arabic شمع.

Noun

sham

  1. candle

Uzbek

Other scripts
Yangi Imlo
Cyrillic шам
Latin sham
Perso-Arabic
(Afghanistan)

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic شمع.

Noun

sham (plural shamlar)

  1. candle

Declension