Wordswarms From Years Past
Adjacent WordsSHALLUN
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Sham definitions
SHAM, n. That which deceives expectation; any trick, fraud or device that deludes and disappoints; delusion; imposture. [Not an elegant word.]
Believe who will the solemn sham, not I. Addison.
SHAM, a. False; counterfeit; pretended; as a sham fight.
SHAM, v.t.
1. To deceive expectation; to trick to cheat; to delude with false pretenses.
They find themselves fooled and shammed into conviction. [Not elegant.]
L'Estrange.
2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
SHAM, v.i. To make mocks.
adj
1: adopted in order to deceive; "an assumed name"; "an assumed cheerfulness"; "a fictitious address"; "fictive sympathy"; "a pretended interest"; "a put-on childish voice"; "sham modesty" [syn: assumed, false, fictitious, fictive, pretended, put on, sham] n
1: something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be [syn: fake, sham, postiche]
2: a person who makes deceitful pretenses [syn: imposter, impostor, pretender, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player] v
1: make a pretence of; "She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger"; "he feigned sleep" [syn: simulate, assume, sham, feign]
2: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble]
I. noun Etymology: perhaps from English dialect sham shame, alteration of English shame Date: 1677 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 Synonyms: see imposture II. adjective Date: 1681 1. not genuine ; false, feigned 2. having such poor quality as to seem false III. verb (shammed; shamming) Date: 1739 transitive verb to go through the external motions necessary to counterfeit intransitive verb to act intentionally so as to give a false impression ; feign Synonyms: see assume • shammer noun
v., n., & adj. --v. (shammed, shamming) 1 intr. feign, pretend. 2 tr. a pretend to be. b simulate (is shamming sleep). --n. 1 imposture, pretence. 2 a person or thing pretending or pretended to be what he or she or it is not. --adj. pretended, counterfeit. Derivatives: shammer n. Etymology: perh. north. dial. var. of SHAME
Sham Sham, a. False; counterfeit; pretended; feigned; unreal; as, a sham fight. They scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians. --Jowett (Thucyd)
Sham Sham, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shammed; p. pr. & vb. n. Shamming.] 1. To trick; to cheat; to deceive or delude with false pretenses. Fooled and shammed into a conviction. --L'Estrange. 2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition. [R.] We must have a care that we do not . . . sham fallacies upon the world for current reason. --L'Estrange. 3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign. To sham Abram or Abraham, to feign sickness; to malinger. Hence a malingerer is called, in sailors' cant, Sham Abram, or Sham Abraham.
Sham Sham, v. i. To make false pretenses; to deceive; to feign; to impose. Wondering . . . whether those who lectured him were such fools as they professed to be, or were only shamming. --Macaulay.
Sham Sham, n. [Originally the same word as shame, hence, a disgrace, a trick. See Shame, n.] 1. That which deceives expectation; any trick, fraud, or device that deludes and disappoint; a make-believe; delusion; imposture, humbug. ``A mere sham.'' --Bp. Stillingfleet. Believe who will the solemn sham, not I. --Addison. 2. A false front, or removable ornamental covering. Pillow sham, a covering to be laid on a pillow.
(shams) Something that is a sham is not real or is not really what it seems to be. The government's promises were exposed as a hollow sham... N-COUNT: usu sing [disapproval]
I. v. a. 1. Feign, pretend, make pretence of, imitate, ape. 2. Trick, cheat, delude, dupe. 3. Impose, obtrude by fraud. II. v. n. Deceive, feign, impose, pretend. III. n. Imposture, imposition, trick, fraud, feint, delusion, humbug, pretence, clap-trap. IV. a. Pretended, false, assumed, counterfeit, mock, spurious, clap-trap, make-believe.
A cheat, or trick. To cut a sham; to cheat or deceive. Shams; false sleeves to put on over a dirty shirt, or false sleeves with ruffles to put over a plain one. To sham Abram; to counterfeit sickness.
Tartuffery, Tartuffism, act, act a part, acting, adulterated, affect, affectation, affected, affectedness, airs, airs and graces, alibi, ape, apocryphal, apology, appearance, artificial, artificiality, assume, assumed, attitudinizing, bastard, blagueur, blazon, blind, bluff, bluffer, bluffing, bogus, bravura, brilliancy, brummagem, burlesque, cant, caricature, charlatan, cheat, cheating, clinquant, cloak, color, colorable, colored, coloring, copy, counterfeit, counterfeited, cover, cover story, cover up, cover-up, create, daring, dash, deceit, deception, delusion, demonstration, device, disguise, display, dissemblance, dissemble, dissembling, dissimulate, dissimulation, distorted, do a bit, dramatics, dramatize, dressed up, dummy, eclat, embellished, embroidered, ersatz, etalage, excuse, exhibition, exhibitionism, facade, face, factitious, fake, faked, fakement, faker, fakery, faking, false, false air, false front, false show, falsified, falsity, fanfaronade, farce, feign, feigned, feigned belief, feigning, feint, fictitious, fictive, figure, flair, flam, flaunt, flaunting, flourish, forged, forgery, four-flush, four-flushing, fourflusher, frame-up, fraud, fraudulent, front, gammon, garbled, gilt, gloss, guise, handle, histrionics, histrionize, hoax, hokey, humbug, humbuggery, hypocrisy, hypocritical, hypocriticalness, illegitimate, image, imitate, imitation, impersonator, impostor, imposture, insincerity, invent, junk, junky, lame excuse, let on, let on like, lie, locus standi, made-up, make a pretense, make as if, make believe, make like, make out like, make-believe, malingerer, man-made, manifestation, mannerism, mask, masquerade, mere show, meretriciousness, mislead, mock, mountebank, ostensible motive, ostentation, outward show, overact, pageant, pageantry, parade, paste, pecksniffery, perverted, pharisaicalness, pharisaism, phony, pinchbeck, plagiarized, plaster, play, play a part, play a scene, play possum, playact, playacting, poor excuse, pose, poser, poseur, posing, posture, pretend, pretended, pretender, pretense, pretension, pretext, profess, protestation, prunes and prisms, pseudo, public image, public motive, put on, put on airs, put-off, put-on, put-up job, putting on airs, quack, quacksalver, quackster, quasi, queer, refuge, representation, ringer, rip-off, saltimbanco, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, screen, seeming, self-styled, sell, semblance, shammer, shoddy, show, showing-off, simulacrum, simulate, simulated, simulation, smoke screen, snide, so-called, soi-disant, speciousness, spectacle, splash, splurge, spoof, spurious, staginess, stalking-horse, stratagem, stylishness, substitute, subterfuge, supposititious, swindle, synthetic, theatrics, tin, tinsel, titivated, travesty, trick, tug the heartstrings, twisted, unauthentic, ungenuine, unnatural, unnaturalness, unreal, varnish, vaunt, veil, warped, wear, whited sepulcher, window dressing
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