sham

(shăm)
n.

1. Something false or empty that is purported to be genuine; a spurious imitation.
2. The quality of deceitfulness; empty pretense.
3. One who assumes a false character; an impostor: "He a man! Hell! He was a hollow sham!" (Joseph Conrad).
4. A decorative cover made to simulate an article of household linen and used over or in place of it: a pillow sham.

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.]

shammer sham'mer n.

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transaction conducted for the purpose of avoiding taxation. Once discovered by tax authorities, it will be considered null and void, and the parties to the transaction will have to pay the taxes due. Some limited partnerships have been ruled to be “sham transactions” in the past, causing limited partners to owe back taxes, penalties, and interest to the Internal Revenue Service.

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noun

1. A fraudulent imitation: counterfeit, fake, forgery, phony. See true/false.
2. A false, derisive, or impudent imitation of something: burlesque, caricature, farce, mock, mockery, parody, travesty. See respect/contempt/standing, same/different/compare.
3. A display of insincere behavior: act, acting, disguise, dissemblance, masquerade, pretense, show, simulation. See honest/dishonest, true/false.

adjective

Fraudulently or deceptively imitative: bogus, counterfeit, fake, false, fraudulent, phony, spurious, suppositious, supposititious,, true/false.

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. See honest/dishonest, true/false.
2. To take on or give a false appearance of: affect², assume, counterfeit, fake, feign, pretend, put on, simulate. Idioms: make believe. See true/false.

adj

Definition: artificial, counterfeit
Antonyms: genuine, real, true

n

Definition: hoax
Antonyms: genuine article

v

Definition: trick; pull a hoax
Antonyms: tell truth

C18 term for a fake ‘ruin’ or other building erected for effect, e.g. the ‘Sham Gothic’ of Batty Langley.

Bibliography

• K. Clark (1974)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

False; without substance.

A sham pleading is one that is good in form but is so clearly false in fact that it does not raise any genuine issue.

For a list of words related to sham, see:

• Linens and Fabrics - sham: covering, esp. for pillow, that provides altered outward appearance
• Morality or Character
• Foolishness, Bunkum, and Trifles
• Bad, False, Evil, Insincere, or Dishonest
• Fraud, Treachery, and Deception - sham: deceptive trick or hoax; spurious imitation or counterfeit object; impostor

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See words rhyming with "shammer."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Sham.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - humbug, fidus, trick, forlorenhed, fidusmager, imitation
adj. - forloren, falsk, imiteret, skin-
v. tr. - foregive, simulere
v. intr. - anstille sig

Nederlands (Dutch)
schijnvertoning, oplichterij, hypocrisie, imitatie, smoes, komedie, voorwendsel, nep-, pseudo-, voorwenden, oplichten, huichelen

Français (French)
n. - imposteur, imposture, parodie, mystification, supercherie
adj. - prétendu, factice, feint, fantoche
v. tr. - faire semblant de
v. intr. - faire semblant

Deutsch (German)
n. - Heuchelei, Heuchler
v. - simulieren
adj. - geheuchelt, imitiert, simuliert

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - απάτη, επίφαση, προσποίηση, υποκρισία, απατεώνας
v. - προσποιούμαι, υποκρίνομαι
adj. - ψεύτικος, προσποιητός

Italiano (Italian)
simulare, imitazione, sotterfugio, ipocrita, commedia, simulato, falso

Português (Portuguese)
n. - imitação, impostor, ficção
v. - simular, fingir
adj. - simulado

Русский (Russian)
подделка, обман, притворство, симулянт, мошенник, фальшивый, притворный, фиктивный, мнимый притворяться, симулировать

Español (Spanish)
n. - imitación, bisutería, pretexto, impostor, farsa, engaño
adj. - fingido, simulado, falso, ficticio
v. tr. - fingir, simular
v. intr. - fingir, simular

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - föreställning, hyckleri, spel, skoj, humbug, bluff, sken, imitation, bluffmakare, hycklare
v. - simulera, hyckla, låtsas ha
adj. - hycklad, låtsad, fingerad, imiterad, oäkta

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
欺骗, 虚伪, 骗局, 假装, 假的, 伪造的, 佯作, 冒充, 仿制, 装假

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 欺騙, 虛偽, 騙局, 假裝
adj. - 假的, 偽造的
v. tr. - 假裝, 佯作, 冒充, 仿製
v. intr. - 裝假

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 가짜, 사기꾼, 침대 덮개
adj. - 모조의, 가짜의, 겉보기 만의
v. tr. - ~인 체하다, ~을 가장하다, ~을 위조하다
v. intr. - ~ 하는 체하다, 시늉하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 見せかけ, 偽物, ペテン師
adj. - 見せかけの, 偽の, 模擬の
v. - 見せかける, ふりをする

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خدعه, رياء (فعل) يزيف, يحتال على, يخدع (صفه) دجال‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮העמדת-פנים, התחזות, שקר, בלוף‬
adj. - ‮מעמיד פנים, מזוייף, מדומה‬
v. tr. - ‮זייף‬
v. intr. - ‮העמיד פנים‬

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