sham

comparative more sham · superlative most 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.

   1 more example

   Artiles, a Republican operative with a reputation for a foul mouth and sharp elbows, is accused of financing a sham candidate whose candidacy was intended to siphon votes from a legitimate Democratic candidate in a state Senate race in South Florida’s 37th District. The candidate has the same last name as then-Democratic incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez but did not actively campaign for the seat and has since admitted being recruited as a spoiler.

   2021 March 18, Scott Glover, Curt Devine and Audrey Ash, “Former Florida state senator charged in spoiler candidate scheme”, in CNN

2. Counterfeit; unreal.

   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.

   1881, Benjamin Jowett, transl., Thucydides, Oxford: Clarendon Press, VIII.64, p. 592

   2 more examples

   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.

   1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 345

   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.”

   2024 May 23, Sam Jones, “Spanish police recover Francis Bacon painting worth €5m”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

plural shams

1. countableuncountableA fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.

   The time-share deal was a sham.

2. countableuncountableTrickery, hoaxing.

   A con-man must be skilled in the arts of sham and deceit.

   1 more example

   Tarzan would have none of it, and so he hunted alone that none might discover the sham that he was practicing.

   1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 75

3. countableuncountableA false front, or removable ornamental covering.
4. countableuncountableA decorative cover for a pillow.

present singular third person shams · participle present shamming · participle past shammed · past shammed

1. To deceive, cheat, lie.

   He shammed a migraine to avoid the exam.

   1 more example

   they find themſelves Fool'd and Shamm'd (as we ſay) into a Conviction.

   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

2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition.

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

   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

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

1. abbreviationclippingslanguncountableClipping of champagne.

   So I orders a bottle, as if for myself; and, ‘Ma’am, says I, ‘will you take a glass of Sham—just one?’

   1840, M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], The Paris Sketch Book, volume I, London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC, page 34

plural Shams

1. A surname.