Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
shalloon
shallop
shallot
shallow
shallow water blackout
shalom
shalt
shalwar
sham
shaman
shamanism
shamash
shamateur
shamba
shamble
shambles
shambolic
Click to move down the list of words
Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

sham

sham [ sham ]


noun  (plural shams)
Definition:
 
1. something fake: something that is presented as genuine but that is not

2. impostor: somebody who pretends to be something that he or she is not

3. household 
Same as  pillow sham




adjective 
Definition:
 
not genuine: not genuine and used for deception
sham credentials



transitive and intransitive verb  (past and past participle shammed, present participle sham·ming, 3rd person present singular shams)
Definition:
 
feign something: to pretend to be experiencing a condition such as illness or an emotion in order to deceive
He shammed a migraine to avoid the exam.
Is the patient really ill or just shamming?

[Late 17th century. Probably variant of shame]

sham·mer noun
Advertisement

© 2009 Microsoft