sham

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sham

(shăm)

a. Something false or empty that is purported to be genuine: "Because she had been so readily unfaithful, her marriage was a sham" (Alice Munro).

b. Deceitfulness or pretense: "She saw herself as a person surrounded by, living by, sham" (Alice Munro).

c. One who claims to be what he or she is not; an impostor or fraud: "He a man! Hell! He was a hollow sham!" (Joseph Conrad).

2. A decorative cover for a pillow.

adj.

Not genuine; fake: sham diamonds; sham modesty.

v. shammed, sham·ming, shams

v.tr.

To put on the false appearance of; feign: "shamming insanity to get his tormentors to leave him alone" (John Wain).

v.intr.

To assume a false appearance or character; dissemble.

[Perhaps dialectal variant of shame.]

sham′mer n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sham

(ʃæm)

1. anything that is not what it purports or appears to be

2. something false, fake, or fictitious that purports to be genuine

3. a person who pretends to be something other than he is

adj

counterfeit or false; simulated

vb, shams, shamming or shammed

to falsely assume the appearance of (something); counterfeit: to sham illness.

[C17: perhaps a Northern English dialect variant of shame]

ˈshammer n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sham

(ʃæm)

n., adj., v. shammed, sham•ming. n.

1. a spurious imitation; fraud or hoax.

2. a person who pretends or counterfeits.

3. a cover or the like: a pillow sham.

adj.

4. pretended; counterfeit: sham attacks.

5. designed, made, or used as a sham.

v.t.

6. to produce an imitation of.

7. to feign.

v.i.

8. to make a false show of something.

[1670–80]

sham′mer, n.

syn: See false.

sham

Past participle: shammed
Gerund: shamming

Imperative
sham
sham

Present
I sham
you sham
he/she/it shams
we sham
you sham
they sham

Preterite
I shammed
you shammed
he/she/it shammed
we shammed
you shammed
they shammed

Present Continuous
I am shamming
you are shamming
he/she/it is shamming
we are shamming
you are shamming
they are shamming

Present Perfect
I have shammed
you have shammed
he/she/it has shammed
we have shammed
you have shammed
they have shammed

Past Continuous
I was shamming
you were shamming
he/she/it was shamming
we were shamming
you were shamming
they were shamming

Past Perfect
I had shammed
you had shammed
he/she/it had shammed
we had shammed
you had shammed
they had shammed

Future
I will sham
you will sham
he/she/it will sham
we will sham
you will sham
they will sham

Future Perfect
I will have shammed
you will have shammed
he/she/it will have shammed
we will have shammed
you will have shammed
they will have shammed

Future Continuous
I will be shamming
you will be shamming
he/she/it will be shamming
we will be shamming
you will be shamming
they will be shamming

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been shamming
you have been shamming
he/she/it has been shamming
we have been shamming
you have been shamming
they have been shamming

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been shamming
you will have been shamming
he/she/it will have been shamming
we will have been shamming
you will have been shamming
they will have been shamming

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been shamming
you had been shamming
he/she/it had been shamming
we had been shamming
you had been shamming
they had been shamming

Conditional
I would sham
you would sham
he/she/it would sham
we would sham
you would sham
they would sham

Past Conditional
I would have shammed
you would have shammed
he/she/it would have shammed
we would have shammed
you would have shammed
they would have shammed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	sham - something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be fake, postiche fake book - a fake in the form of an imitation book; used to fill bookcases of people who wish to appear scholarly imitation - something copied or derived from an original Potemkin village - something that seems impressive but in fact lacks substance
	2.	sham - a person who makes deceitful pretenses faker, imposter, impostor, pseud, pseudo, role player, shammer, pretender, fraud, fake beguiler, cheater, deceiver, trickster, slicker, cheat - someone who leads you to believe something that is not true name dropper - someone who pretends that famous people are his/her friends ringer - a contestant entered in a competition under false pretenses
Verb	1.	sham - make a pretence of; "She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger"; "he feigned sleep" feign, simulate, assume pretend, dissemble, act - behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting" play - pretend to be somebody in the framework of a game or playful activity; "Let's play like I am mommy"; "Play cowboy and Indians" feint - deceive by a mock action; "The midfielder feinted to shoot"
	2.	sham - make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" dissemble, feign, pretend, affect misrepresent, belie - represent falsely; "This statement misrepresents my intentions" make believe, pretend, make - represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like; "She makes like an actress" play possum - to pretend to be dead take a dive - pretend to be knocked out, as of a boxer talk through one's hat, bull, fake - speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths; "The politician was not well prepared for the debate and faked it" mouth - articulate silently; form words with the lips only; "She mouthed a swear word"
Adj.	1.	sham - adopted in order to deceive; "an assumed name"; "an assumed cheerfulness"; "a fictitious address"; "fictive sympathy"; "a pretended interest"; "a put-on childish voice"; "sham modesty" assumed, fictive, pretended, put on, fictitious, false counterfeit, imitative - not genuine; imitating something superior; "counterfeit emotion"; "counterfeit money"; "counterfeit works of art"; "a counterfeit prince"

sham

noun

1. fraud, imitation, hoax, pretence, forgery, counterfeit, pretender, humbug, impostor, feint, pseud (informal), wolf in sheep's clothing, imposture, phoney or phony (informal) Their promises were exposed as a hollow sham.
fraud original, the real thing, the genuine article, the real McCoy (or McKay)

adjective

1. false, artificial, bogus, pretended, mock, synthetic, imitation, simulated, pseudo (informal), counterfeit, feigned, spurious, ersatz, pseud (informal), phoney or phony (informal) a sham marriage
false real, genuine, authentic, sound, true, natural, legitimate, veritable, bona fide, dinkum (Austral & N.Z. informal), unfeigned

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sham

noun

1. A fraudulent imitation:

counterfeit, fake, forgery, phony.

2. A false, derisive, or impudent imitation of something:

burlesque, caricature, farce, mock, mockery, parody, travesty.

3. A display of insincere behavior:

act, acting, disguise, dissemblance, masquerade, pretense, show, simulation.

adjective

Fraudulently or deceptively imitative:

bogus, counterfeit, fake, false, fraudulent, phony, spurious, suppositious, supposititious.

verb

1. To behave affectedly or insincerely or take on a false or misleading appearance of:

act, counterfeit, dissemble, fake, feign, play-act, pose, pretend, put on, simulate.

2. To take on or give a false appearance of:

affect, assume, counterfeit, fake, feign, pretend, put on, simulate.

Idiom: make believe.

Translations

رياء، تَصَنُّع، تَمْويهزائِف، مُقَلَّديَتَظاهَر، يَدَّعي

falešnýpodvodpředstíranýpředstírat

foregivehumbuglade som om

Betrug Mogelei Schwindel Täuschung unecht

ντροπιάζω

huijatahuiputtaajäljennöspettääväärennös

faire semblant faux imposture

fölsun, eftirlíkinglátastuppgerî, látalæti

falso fingere finto finzione simulato

ごまかしごまかすまがいもの

apsimetinėti

blēdībaizlikšanāsizliktiesmācību-mākslīgs

jukse-

göz boyamasahte taklityalandan ...-mak

伪装假装假装的哄骗虚假的

sham

[ʃæm]

A. ADJ → falso, fingido

B. N

1. (= imposture) → farsa f
it was all a sham → fue una farsa, fue pura pantalla (Mex)

2. (= person) → impostor/a m/f

C. VT → fingir, simular
to sham illness → fingirse enfermo

D. VI → fingir, fingirse
he's just shamming → lo está fingiendo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sham

[ˈʃæm]

(= thing that is not genuine) → simulacre m
Their independence is a sham → Leur autonomie n'est qu'un simulacre.
They have denounced this election as a sham → Ils ont qualifié ces élections de simulacre.

(= imposter) → imposteur m

adj [illness] → feint(e), simulé(e); [love, friendship] → faux(fausse)
sham marriage → simulacre m de mariage

vt [+ illness, love] → feindre, simuler

vi → faire semblant
He's shamming → Il fait semblant.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sham

(= pretence) → Heuchelei f; he’s not really sorry, it’s all a big sham → es tut ihm nicht wirklich leid, er heuchelt nur or das ist geheuchelt; their marriage had become a sham → ihre Ehe war zur Farce geworden or bestand nur noch zum Schein; his life seemed a sham → sein Leben erschien ihm als Lug und Trug; this diamond is a sham → dieser Diamant ist nicht echt

(= person) → Scharlatan m; you don’t really feel anything, you big sham! → du empfindest überhaupt nichts, du Heuchler!

adj diamonds, oak etc → unecht, imitiert; politeness etc → vorgetäuscht, geheuchelt; person → betrügerisch; a sham marriage → eine Scheinehe; a sham deal → ein Scheingeschäft nt; a sham battle → ein Scheingefecht nt

vt → vortäuschen, vorgeben; illness also → simulieren; emotions, sympathy → heucheln

vi → so tun; (esp with illness) → simulieren; (with feelings) → heucheln; he’s just shamming → er tut nur so

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sham

[ʃæm]

1. adj (piety) → falso/a; (politeness) → finto/a; (elections) → fasullo/a; (battle, illness) → simulato/a

2. n

a. (imposture) → messinscena, finta

b. (person) → ciarlatano/a, impostore m

3. vt → fingere, simulare
to sham illness → fingersi malato/a

4. vi → fingere, far finta
he's just shamming → fa solo finta

sham

(ʃӕm) noun

something that is pretended, not genuine. The whole trial was a sham.

adjective

pretended, artificial or false. a sham fight; Are those diamonds real or sham?

verb – past tense, past participle shammed –

to pretend (to be in some state). He shammed sleep/anger; He shammed dead; I think she's only shamming.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

"It serves me right, because it was all sham; because it was all done on purpose, and not from the heart.

View in context

He appeared to me one of the noblest creatures that ever was when he derided the shams of society; and I was far from seeing that society, as we have it, was necessarily a sham; when he made a mock of snobbishness I did not know but snobbishness was something that might be reached and cured by ridicule.

View in context

"Your master never taught you a truer thing," said John; "there is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast it is all a sham -- all a sham, James, and it won't stand when things come to be turned inside out."

View in context

"Or if not," she continued, pursuing her own thought with a painful application, "if it's not worth while to have given up, to have missed things, so that others may be saved from disillusionment and misery--then everything I came home for, everything that made my other life seem by contrast so bare and so poor because no one there took account of them--all these things are a sham or a dream--"

View in context

"Would you prefer to be a sham - that one could forget?"

View in context

For example: -- very early in the morning I had to make up my packet of sham letters.

View in context

And he and they liked me, and respected my office; but as an animal, without birth or sham title, they looked down upon me -- and were not par- ticularly private about it, either.

View in context

Departure for the rendezvous A war party of Blackfeet A mock bustle Sham fires at night Warlike precautions Dangers of a night attack A panic among horses Cautious march The Beer Springs A mock carousel Skirmishing with buffaloes A buffalo bait Arrival at the rendezvous Meeting of various bands

View in context

An honest and natural slum dialect is more tolerable than the attempt of a phonetically untaught person to imitate the vulgar dialect of the golf club; and I am sorry to say that in spite of the efforts of our Academy of Dramatic Art, there is still too much sham golfing English on our stage, and too little of the noble English of Forbes Robertson.

View in context

He whose desires are drawn towards knowledge in every form will be absorbed in the pleasures of the soul, and will hardly feel bodily pleasure-- I mean, if he be a true philosopher and not a sham one.

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And this was a trade with her; she kept a sham gold watch, that is, a watch of silver gilt, and a purse of counters in her pocket to be ready on all such occasions, and I doubt not practiced it with success.

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'but the real name of the House is the Sham's Arms.

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