sham
A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuineA fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.
» This isn't a sham.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
4 senses(countable, uncountable)A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.
The time-share deal was a sham.
Fälschung, Imitat
подде́лкаpoddélka, притво́рствоpritvórstvo
(countable, uncountable)Trickery, hoaxing.
A con-man must be skilled in the arts of sham and deceit.
Schwindel, Mogelei, Betrug
моше́нничествоmošénničestvo, жу́льничествоžúlʹničestvo
(countable, uncountable)A false front, or removable ornamental covering.
(countable, uncountable)A decorative cover for a pillow.
- something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be
- a person who makes deceitful pretenses
Examples
17 sentencesThis isn't a sham.
It's a complete sham.
This might all be a sham.
This might be all a sham.
This sham election is a disgrace to democracy.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 2
Origin
Probably a dialectal form of shame.Probably a dialectal form of shame.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: shamsSynonyms
12 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.