“Coffee, the favorite drink of the civilized world.” – Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States
SHAM
assumed, false, fictitious, fictive, pretended, put on, sham
(adjective) 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”
fake, sham, postiche
(noun) something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be
imposter, impostor, pretender, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player
(noun) a person who makes deceitful pretenses
feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble
(verb) make believe with the intent to deceive; “He feigned that he was ill”; “He shammed a headache”
simulate, assume, sham, feign
(verb) make a pretence of; “She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger”; “he feigned sleep”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
sham (comparative more sham, superlative most sham)
Intended to deceive; false.
counterfeit; unreal
Synonyms
• mock
• See also fake
Antonyms
• genuine
• sincere
• real
Noun
sham (plural shams)
A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.
Trickery, hoaxing.
A false front, or removable ornamental covering.
A decorative cover for a pillow.
Verb
sham (third-person singular simple present shams, present participle shamming, simple past and past participle shammed)
To deceive, cheat, lie.
To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.
Anagrams
• AMHS, HMAS, HSAM, MASH, MHAs, MSHA, Mahs, Mash, SAHM, Sahm, hams, mash
Source: Wiktionary
Sham, n. Etym: [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.
Sham, a.
Definition: False; counterfeit; pretended; feigned; unreal; as, a sham fight. They scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians. Jowett (Thucyd)
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, v. i.
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
23 November 2024
THEORETICAL
(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”
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