Meanings
present singular third person shams Abraham · participle present shamming Abraham · participle past shammed Abraham · past shammed Abraham · alternative sham Abram
- UKidiomaticobsoletethieves' cantTo pretend sickness or insanity.
The boatswain found me, as he said, an obstinate fellow: he swore that I understood my business perfectly well, but that I shammed Abraham merely to be idle.
1759, Oliver Goldsmith, The Works of Oliver Goldsmith, volume 3, published 1835, The Citizen of the World, Letter CXIX, page 3311 more example
Matthew, sceptic and scoffer, had already failed to subscribe a prompt belief in that pain about the heart: he had muttered some words, amongst which the phrase "shamming Abraham" had been very distinctly audible; […]
1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Martin’s Tactics”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 219–220Synonyms: chuck a sickie, do Abram, pull a sickie, throw a sickie
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo pretend sickness or insanity.
Origin
First use appears c. 1752. From sham + Abraham man (“a beggar who pretends to be ill”)
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
sham Abraham. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sham%20Abraham
“sham Abraham.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sham%20Abraham. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sham Abraham,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sham%20Abraham.
Source: sham Abraham on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.