sham

1 of 3

noun

ˈsham 

1

: a trick that deludes : hoax

feared that the deal was a sham

2

: cheap falseness : hypocrisy

saw through the hollowness, the sham, the silliness of the empty pageant

—Oscar Wilde

3

: an ornamental covering for a pillow

4

: an imitation or counterfeit purporting to be genuine

5

: a person who shams

sham

2 of 3

adjective

1

: not genuine : false, feigned

2

: having such poor quality as to seem false

sham

3 of 3

verb

shammed; shamming

transitive verb

: to go through the external motions necessary to counterfeit

intransitive verb

: to act intentionally so as to give a false impression : feign

shammer

ˈsha-mər 

noun

Synonyms

Noun

• caricature
• cartoon
• farce
• joke
• mockery
• parody
• travesty

Adjective

• artificial
• bogus
• dummy
• ersatz
• factitious
• fake
• false
• faux
• imitation
• imitative
• man-made
• mimic
• mock
• pretend
• simulated
• substitute
• synthetic

Verb

• act
• affect
• assume
• bluff
• counterfeit
• dissemble
• fake
• feign
• pass (for)
• pretend
• profess
• put on
• simulate

Choose the Right Synonym for sham

Noun

imposture, fraud, sham, fake, humbug, counterfeit mean a thing made to seem other than it is.

imposture applies to any situation in which a spurious object or performance is passed off as genuine.

their claim of environmental concern is an imposture

fraud usually implies a deliberate perversion of the truth.

the diary was exposed as a fraud

sham applies to fraudulent imitation of a real thing or action.

condemned the election as a sham

fake implies an imitation of or substitution for the genuine but does not necessarily imply dishonesty.

these jewels are fakes; the real ones are in the vault

humbug suggests elaborate pretense usually so flagrant as to be transparent.

creating publicity by foisting humbugs on a gullible public

counterfeit applies especially to the close imitation of something valuable.

20-dollar bills that were counterfeits

Verb

assume, affect, pretend, simulate, feign, counterfeit, sham mean to put on a false or deceptive appearance.

assume often implies a justifiable motive rather than an intent to deceive.

assumed an air of cheerfulness around the patients

affect implies making a false show of possessing, using, or feeling.

affected an interest in art

pretend implies an overt and sustained false appearance.

pretended that nothing had happened

simulate suggests a close imitation of the appearance of something.

cosmetics that simulate a suntan

feign implies more artful invention than pretend, less specific mimicry than simulate.

feigned sickness

counterfeit implies achieving the highest degree of verisimilitude of any of these words.

an actor counterfeiting drunkenness

sham implies an obvious falseness that fools only the gullible.

shammed a most unconvincing limp

Examples of sham in a Sentence

Noun

He claims that the trial was a sham.

Their marriage was a sham.

Many people believed he could help them, but I knew he was a sham.

She exposed their sham and hypocrisy.

Adjective

a sofa upholstered in sham leather

street vendors selling sham designer handbags to gullible tourists

Verb

She wasn't really hurt; she was only shamming.

He was shamming illness to avoid work.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In fact, the appellate team says that several blood-like stains on items including a pillow sham, the nightstand, a lampshade, turned out not to be blood. —Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2024

Diane von Furstenberg for Target Geranium and Ginkgo Leaves Reversible Comforter Buy on Target $80 This bold bedding set comes with a sateen comforter and two matching shams. —Lauren Taylor, Southern Living, 28 Mar. 2024

When the island does achieve independence, the result proves to be a sham. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024

Better Homes & Gardens Three-Piece Comforter Set Each set includes one comforter and two coordinating shams that simply fold closed in the back over your pillows. —Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Jan. 2024

Still, critics and activists have called the election a sham. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2024

This set of cotton shams from Levtex features a geometric design in a soft blue color that adds a pop of color. —Gabriella Maestri, Southern Living, 12 Mar. 2024

Critics say that elections amount to little more than a sham, and Putin is all but guaranteed to win come March. —Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 8 Feb. 2024

This three-piece comforter set includes a comforter and two reversible pillow shams. —Andrea Wurzburger, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Jan. 2024

Adjective

Those sham journalism films were misleading because Hollywood’s left-leaning fantasists stayed loyal to Beltway newscaster bias. —Armond White, National Review, 29 Mar. 2024

The whole project is a sham exercise in corporate ass-covering and victim-blaming, something that’s apparent even before the sequence that brings Jude’s movie to a brilliant and devastatingly sad climax. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2024

But initial momentum in statehouses is being met with fresh resistance from law enforcement agencies and other defenders, including some who agree that excited delirium is a sham diagnosis. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 22 Mar. 2024

Photograph: Cognito Therapeutics The company’s study included 74 participants with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s who received either the Cognito stimulation or a sham device that acted as a placebo. —Emily Mullin, WIRED, 6 Mar. 2024

Smith alleged that Trump tried to use the Justice Department to open sham election investigations and influence state legislatures with claims of fraud that Trump knew were false. —Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY, 8 Mar. 2024

So, as Putin prepares for a sham election to return him for a fifth term as president, Navalny has been conveniently eliminated. —Trudy Rubin, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2024

The Times’ story said that Donald Trump and his father avoided gift and inheritance taxes by methods including setting up a sham corporation and undervaluing assets to tax authorities. —Michael R. Sisak, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2024

Court records show that Whitaker ran Loan Starters, a sham business in Texas. —Chase Jordan, Charlotte Observer, 22 Feb. 2024

Verb

Critics said the executions were a result of hasty sham trials. —Stephanie Halasz, CNN, 5 Feb. 2023

Iran has cracked down by executing protesters, accused of killing security forces, which critics say were the result of hasty sham trials. —Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN, 19 Jan. 2023

Critics said that the executions were a result of hasty sham trials. —Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN, 11 Jan. 2023

Holding such sham votes is a key objective of Moscow. —Michael Schwirtz, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2022

From real-estate empires to sham blood-testing apparatuses, which scheme is which, who got the furthest, who was sued, and who was running the scummiest scam? —Vulture, 25 Feb. 2022

Some volunteers got 'sham' tDCS in which the current was turned off. —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2016

DiMassa admitted when pleading guilty that he was involved in three related conspiracies — with his wife, Bernardo and Trasacco — to embezzle the federal grant money by creating dummy invoices and directing payments to sham companies. —Hartford Courant, 2 Dec. 2022

This group of teachers schooled their students on the art of DIY Halloween costumes with their tourists on a sham-rocket roller coaster creation. —Diane J. Cho, Peoplemag, 27 Oct. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Noun

perhaps from English dialect sham shame, alteration of English shame

First Known Use

Noun

1677, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1702, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

sham

1 of 3 noun

ˈsham 

1

: a trick that deceives : hoax

2

: something resembling an article of personal or household linen and used in place of or over it

3

: an imitation or counterfeit giving the impression of being real

sham

2 of 3 verb

shammed; shamming

: to act in a deceiving way

sham

3 of 3 adjective

: not real : false

sham pearls

Medical Definition

sham

adjective

ˈsham 

: being a treatment or procedure that is performed as a control and that is similar to but omits a key therapeutic element of the treatment or procedure under investigation

sham surgery, in which doctors make an incision in a patient's knee and manipulate the joint, but don't clean out fluid, debris, and torn cartilage

—Liz Kowalczyk

a sham injection of saline solution

Legal Definition

sham

1 of 2 noun

ˈsham 

: something that is false, deceptive, misleading, or otherwise not genuine

sham

2 of 2 adjective

: not genuine : intended to mislead or deceive : false, illusory

the sale for one dollar was a sham transfer of property