sham

¹sham

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

Examples of SHAM

1. He claims that the trial was a sham.
2. Their marriage was a sham.
3. Many people believed he could help them, but I knew he was a sham.
4. She exposed their sham and hypocrisy.

Origin of SHAM

perhaps from English dialect sham shame, alteration of English shame

First Known Use: 1677

Related to SHAM

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

see all synonyms and antonyms

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See Synonym Discussion at imposture

Other Household Terms

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

Rhymes with SHAM

bam, cam, clam, cram, dam, damn, drachm, dram, DRAM, flam, gam, gram, ham, Ham, jam, jamb, lam, lamb, ma'am, pram, ram, RAM, Sam, SAM, scam, scram, slam, spam, tam, tram, wham, yam