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   sham

   /ʃam/

   noun

   • 1. a thing that is not what it is purported to be: "our current free health service is a sham"
   • ▪ pretence: "George abhorred sham and affectation" Similar pretencefakeactfictionsimulationimposturefraudfeintliecounterfeitputting on an actfakingfeigningplay-actingdissemblinghumbuginformal:a put-up jobOpposite the real McCoythe genuine article
   • ▪ a person who pretends to be someone or something they are not: "he was a sham, totally unqualified for his job as a senior doctor" Similar charlatanfakefraudimpostorpretendermasqueraderdissemblerwolf in sheep's clothingquackmountebankinformal:phoney
   • 2. short for pillow sham North American

   adjective

   • 1. bogus; false: "a clergyman who arranged a sham marriage"

   verb

   • 1. falsely present something as the truth: "was he ill or was he shamming?"
   • ▪ pretend to be or to be experiencing: "she shams indifference" Similar feignfakepretendput onmake a pretence ofsimulatecounterfeitaffectimitatepretendfakedissemblemalingerinformal:put it onswing the lead

   Word Origin late 17th century: perhaps a northern English dialect variant of the noun shame.

   Derivatives

   • 1. shammer noun

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • S

     1

   • H

     4

   • A

     1

   • M

     3

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