sham

noun \ ˈsham \

Definition of sham

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

See sham defined for English-language learners

See sham defined for kids

Examples of sham in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of sham from the Web

Subjects will be randomly assigned to receive either the actual treatment or a sham therapy.

— meredith wadman, Science | AAAS, "Brain-altering magnetic pulses could zap cocaine addiction," 29 Aug. 2017
The government claims the charity was really a sham, set up by Holifield and former Fiat Chrysler Vice President Al Iacobelli, who were supposed to be rivals at the bargaining table but were colluding to line their own pockets, along with Morgan's.

— tresa baldas, Detroit Free Press, "Friends defend UAW exec's widow in alleged $2.2M scam: 'She is not (a) gold digger'," 31 July 2017
How can anyone be happy that the board is returning to its mandated monthly meetings when every other meeting is a sham?

— stu bykofsky, Philly.com, "Philly animal shelter's board puts tail between its legs," 14 July 2017
Though the events were supposed to be for educating prescribers on the drug, authorities contend the program was a sham.

— nicholas rondinone, courant.com, "Sales Representative Pleads Guilty In Fentanyl Kickback Scheme," 11 July 2017
Human rights groups said the closed-door trial was a sham.

— jim wyss, miamiherald, "Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López moved to house arrest," 8 July 2017
Hanna and her colleagues reach a clear conclusion: Jakarta’s HOV policy was helping, despite the professional passengers making it look like a big sham.

— cathleen o'grady, Ars Technica, "Ending carpool-only roads made all trips worse," 6 July 2017
Prosecutors have claimed t he agreement between Blanton and Shkreli, termed a consulting agreement, was a sham.

— reuters, Fortune, "Investor In Martin Shkreli’s Fund Says He Made Millions Despite Being Lied To," 5 July 2017
Confronting China, which has dismissed the ruling as a sham, risks sparking an armed conflict that the Philippines would surely lose, Duterte contended.

— Bloomberg.com, "A Look At Philippine Leader's Stormy First Year in Power," 30 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sham.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sham

perhaps from English dialect sham shame, alteration of English shame

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1677

See Words from the same year

sham Synonyms

Synonyms

caricature, cartoon, farce, joke, parody, mockery, travesty

Related Words

burlesque, comedy; lampoon, takeoff; counterfeit, fake, feigning, forgery, hoax, humbug, knockoff, phony (also phoney), pretense (or pretence), mockery, simulation

Near Antonyms

homage, tribute

Synonym Discussion of sham

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

Other Household Terms

cruet, curiosity, duvet, fiasco, taper, valance, whatnot

sham

adjective

Definition of sham

1 :not genuine :false, feigned

2 :having such poor quality as to seem false

See sham defined for English-language learners

Examples of sham in a Sentence

a sofa upholstered in sham leather
street vendors selling sham designer handbags to gullible tourists

Recent Examples of sham from the Web

The settlement, which still needs final approval by a judge, includes a complicated formula for addressing the effect the sham accounts had on customers credit scores.

— renae merle, chicagotribune.com, "Wells Fargo's scandal damaged their credit scores. What does bank owe them?," 18 Aug. 2017
The settlement, which still needs final approval by a judge, includes a complicated formula for addressing the effect the sham accounts had on customers credit scores.

— the washington post, OregonLive.com, "Latest fallout from Wells Fargo scandals? Damaged credit scores," 18 Aug. 2017
Jurors were shown what prosecutors said were sham consulting agreements that Shkreli drafted as part of one of his many schemes to pay back some investors.

— chris dolmetsch, Bloomberg.com, "Shkreli Decries ‘Witch Hunt’ After Convicted of Securities Fraud," 4 Aug. 2017
After staging a sham election doing away with the last traces of ordinary democratic government, Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan caudillo, has joined a very elite club, becoming one of four heads of state personally sanctioned by the U.S. government.

— the editors, National Review, "Helping Venezuela: Sanctions Are Only a Start," 1 Aug. 2017
Accusations of bullying, sham elections, secret financial deals — these are not charges that are usually associated with a high school alumni association.

— kate taylor, New York Times, "At Competitive Stuyvesant, Alumni Are Waging a Bitter Contest," 31 July 2017
Thomas told Barnett that J.E. was killed, even presenting him with a photo of a sham tombstone in her name.

— sydney pereira, miamiherald, "Miami businessman convicted of jailhouse plot to murder witness, his own lawyer," 27 July 2017
Trump just got done accusing states that won’t cooperate with his sham Commission on Election Integrity of having something to hide—and Trump is also a world-historical projector.

— brian beutler, New Republic, "Trump: Robert Mueller had better not look where the bodies are buried or I will fire him.," 20 July 2017
A majority of people oppose the Constituent Assembly, which critics have said is a sham election skewed to give Maduro a majority.

— reuters, Fortune, "Trump Is Threatening Sanctions Against Venezuela Over Its Constitutional Crisis," 18 July 2017

First Known Use of sham

1681

sham Synonyms

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

genuine, natural, real

Related Words

cultured, manufactured, process; unauthentic; adulterated, designer, doctored, engineered, fudged, juggled, manipulated, tampered (with); concocted, fabricated; counterfeit, deceptive, forged, fraudulent, misleading, phony (also phoney); affected, brummagem, feigned, pinchbeck, pseudo, spurious

Near Antonyms

authentic, bona fide, legitimate, true; premium, quality, valuable; pure, unadulterated

sham

verb

Definition of sham

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

play \ˈsha-mər\ noun

See sham defined for English-language learners

Examples of sham in a Sentence

She wasn't really hurt; she was only shamming.
He was shamming illness to avoid work.

Recent Examples of sham from the Web

The mentality to insult and criticize someone without a counter-argument is pretty arrogant and juvenile in a public form shaming an individual, a company, and its employees.

— gabriella paiella, The Cut, "This Spin Studio Is ‘Terrorizing’ Anyone Who Gives Them a Negative Yelp Review," 18 Aug. 2017
Racked Is naming and shaming rapists the only way to bring them to justice?

— kristen bellstrom, Fortune, "Taylor Swift Testifies, Oprah’s New Food Deal, Diversity at Google," 11 Aug. 2017
The video, first posted by Radar Online, was followed by dozens of articles shaming the 18-year-old girl.

— kalina newman, USA TODAY College, "Viewpoint: Guys, we need to leave the Obama sisters alone," 9 Aug. 2017
My general aversion to shaming on social media is not absolute.

— conor friedersdorf, The Atlantic, "The Lena Dunham Approach to Twitter Call-Outs," 6 Aug. 2017
The Non-Fear Factor in Fat and Fiber Nut butter, avocado, coconut, or candida-killing MCT oil are blender-ready fats that slow digestion and curb cravings—foods formerly shamed, but recently vindicated.

— elizabeth varnell, Vogue, "The Healthiest Way to Make Your Morning Juice—Hold the Sugar," 15 July 2017
Bill Clinton has actually abused women, and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed, and intimidated his victims.

— joshua green, Daily Intelligencer, "Steve Bannon Is Out of Trump’s Doghouse and Leading the Charge Against Mueller," 9 July 2017
In this family you are not shamed for ill health, vulnerability or weakness.

— miranda siwak, Good Housekeeping, "Why This Mom Rejected Her Son's Perfect Attendance Award," 7 July 2017
But the criticism Stage has received from both of her pregnancies is an important reminder that every pregnancy looks different, and no pregnant woman should be shamed about how her belly — or any part of her body, for that matter — looks.

— lily herman, Allure, "The “Six-Pack Mom” Is Already Getting Flak for the Size of Her Baby Bump," 21 June 2017

First Known Use of sham

1702

sham Synonyms

Synonyms

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

Related Words

dissimulate, impersonate, let on, masquerade, play, playact, pose; forge, imitate; camouflage, conceal, disguise, mask; feint; malinger

Synonym Discussion of sham

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

SHAM Defined for English Language Learners

sham

noun

Definition of sham for English Language Learners

: something that is not what it appears to be and that is meant to trick or deceive people
: someone who deceives people by pretending to be a particular kind of person, to have a particular skill, etc.
: words or actions that are not sincere or honest

sham

adjective

Definition of sham for English Language Learners

: not real

sham

verb

Definition of sham for English Language Learners

: to act in a way that is meant to trick or deceive people

SHAM Defined for Kids

sham

noun \ ˈsham \

Definition of sham for Students

1 :something that deceives :hoax

2 :something that is claimed to be true or real but which is actually phony

3 :a decorative covering for a pillow

sham

adjective

Definition of sham for Students

:not real :false

sham concern

sham

verb

Definition of sham for Students

shammed; shamming

:to act in a deceiving way

Medical Dictionary

sham

adjective \ ˈsham \

medical Definition of sham

: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

Law Dictionary

sham

noun \ ˈsham \

legal Definition of sham

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

sham

adjective

legal Definition of sham

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

the sale for one dollar was a sham transfer of property

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sham

Definition of sham

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Origin and Etymology of sham

sham Synonyms

Synonyms

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Synonym Discussion of sham

Other Household Terms

sham

Definition of sham

Examples of sham in a Sentence

Recent Examples of sham from the Web

First Known Use of sham

sham Synonyms

Synonyms

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Near Antonyms

sham

Definition of sham

shammer

Examples of sham in a Sentence

Recent Examples of sham from the Web

First Known Use of sham

sham Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Synonym Discussion of sham

SHAM Defined for English Language Learners

sham

Definition of sham for English Language Learners

sham

Definition of sham for English Language Learners

sham

Definition of sham for English Language Learners

SHAM Defined for Kids

sham

Definition of sham for Students

sham

Definition of sham for Students

sham

Definition of sham for Students

Medical Dictionary

sham

medical Definition of sham

Law Dictionary

sham

legal Definition of sham

sham

legal Definition of sham

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