sham

See also: Sham

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃæm/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (General American):

    (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, 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^[1], →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

• mock
• See also Thesaurus:fake

Antonyms

• genuine
• sincere
• real

Derived terms

• sham marriage
• shammish
• Uncle Sham

Translations

intended to deceive

• Bulgarian: престорен (bg) (prestoren), подправен (bg) (podpraven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 偽 / 伪 (zh) (wěi)

• Esperanto: falsa, pseŭda, trompa (eo)
• Finnish: näennäinen (fi)
• German: falsch (de), Schein- (de)
• Hungarian: ál- (hu)
• Italian: fasullo (it)
• Polish: udawany (pl) m
• Romanian: păcăleală (ro) f
• Russian: фикти́вный (ru) m (fiktívnyj)
• Spanish: falso (es) m; fingido (es) m, ficticio (es), sacha (es) m or f (Ecuador)

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

• Abraham sham
• shamateur

Translations

fake, imitation

• Bulgarian: измама (bg) f (izmama), имитация (bg) f (imitacija)
• Dutch: nep (nl), imitatie (nl)
• Esperanto: falsaĵo
• Finnish: jäljennös (fi), väärennös (fi)
• French: faux-semblant (fr) m
• German: Fälschung (de) f, Imitat (de) n
• Italian: falso (it) m
• Japanese: 紛い物 (ja) (magaimono), 真似事 (ja) (manegoto)
• Lushootseed: səxʷʔiw̓adəb
• Portuguese: farsa (pt) f
• Russian: подде́лка (ru) f (poddélka), притво́рство (ru) n (pritvórstvo)

trickery, hoaxing

• Bulgarian: симулация (bg) f (simulacija), преструвка (bg) f (prestruvka)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 迷雾 (mai⁴ mou⁶), 迷思 (mai⁴ mou⁶), (figuratively)

  Mandarin: 迷雾 (zh) (míwù), 迷思 (míwù), ((figuratively)

• Dutch: bedrog (nl), oplichterij (nl), kwakzalverij (nl)
• Esperanto: trompo
• Finnish: huijaus (fi), petos (fi), huiputus (fi)
• French: feinte (fr) f, tromperie (fr) f, ruse (fr) f, astuce (fr) f
• German: Schwindel (de) m, Mogelei (de) f, Betrug (de) m
• Greek: ψευδής (el) m (psevdís)
• Italian: trucco (it) m, finta (it) f
• Japanese: ごまかし (ja) (gomakashi), まやかし (ja) (mayakashi), 詐欺 (ja) (さぎ, sagi)
• Portuguese: farsa (pt) f
• Russian: моше́нничество (ru) n (mošénničestvo), жу́льничество (ru) n (žúlʹničestvo)
• Spanish: engaño (es) m, truco (es) m, fraude (es) m, farsa (es) f
• Turkish: üçkâğıt (tr) (colloquial), dolap (tr) (colloquial)

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, “[The Fables of Abstemius, &c.] Fab[le] CCLIII. Demades the Orator.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 220:

     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, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] CLXII. A Nightingale and a Bat.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 144:

     But we muſt have a care all this while, not to […] Sham Fallacyes upon the World for Current Reaſon

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

Translations

to cheat or deceive

• Bulgarian: мамя (bg) (mamja), преструвам се (prestruvam se)
• Finnish: huijata (fi), huiputtaa (fi), puijata (fi)
• French: tromper (fr), tricher (fr), mentir (fr)
• German: sich verstellen (de)
• Lushootseed: səxʷʔiw̓adəb
• Romanian: păcăli (ro)
• Russian: моше́нничать (ru) impf (mošénničatʹ), жу́льничать (ru) impf (žúlʹničatʹ), притворя́ться (ru) impf (pritvorjátʹsja) (to pretend)
• Spanish: fingir (es)

to obtrude by fraud or imposition

to assume the manner and character of — see imitate,‎ ape,‎ feign

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

• “sham”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sham”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “sham”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

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

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

Declension of sham

	singular	plural
nominative	sham	shamlar
genitive	shamning	shamlarning
dative	shamga	shamlarga
definite accusative	shamni	shamlarni
locative	shamda	shamlarda
ablative	shamdan	shamlardan
similative	shamdek	shamlardek

Possessive forms of sham

1st person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	shamim	shamlarim
genitive	shamimning	shamlarimning
dative	shamimga	shamlarimga
definite accusative	shamimni	shamlarimni
locative	shamimda	shamlarimda
ablative	shamimdan	shamlarimdan
similative	shamimdek	shamlarimdek
2nd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	shaming	shamlaring
genitive	shamingning	shamlaringning
dative	shamingga	shamlaringga
definite accusative	shamingni	shamlaringni
locative	shamingda	shamlaringda
ablative	shamingdan	shamlaringdan
similative	shamingdek	shamlaringdek
3rd person singular
	singular	plural
nominative	shami	shamlari
genitive	shamining	shamlarining
dative	shamiga	shamlariga
definite accusative	shamini	shamlarini
locative	shamida	shamlarida
ablative	shamidan	shamlaridan
similative	shamidek	shamlaridek
1st person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	shamimiz	shamlarimiz
genitive	shamimizning	shamlarimizning
dative	shamimizga	shamlarimizga
definite accusative	shamimizni	shamlarimizni
locative	shamimizda	shamlarimizda
ablative	shamimizdan	shamlarimizdan
similative	shamimizdek	shamlarimizdek
2nd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	shamingiz	shamlaringiz
genitive	shamingizning	shamlaringizning
dative	shamingizga	shamlaringizga
definite accusative	shamingizni	shamlaringizni
locative	shamingizda	shamlaringizda
ablative	shamingizdan	shamlaringizdan
similative	shamingizdek	shamlaringizdek
3rd person plural
	singular	plural
nominative	shami	shamlari
genitive	shamining	shamlarining
dative	shamiga	shamlariga
definite accusative	shamini	shamlarini
locative	shamida	shamlarida
ablative	shamidan	shamlaridan
similative	shamidek	shamlaridek