sham
Adjective:
- Not genuine; false or fake: Used to describe something that is intended to deceive by appearing to be real or sincere.
- Pretended; feigned: Used to describe an emotion, quality, or action that is not authentic.
Noun:
- A person who pretends to be something they are not: Someone who makes deceitful claims or appearances.
- A thing that is not genuine; a counterfeit: Something that is a false imitation of the real thing.
- A pretense or fraud: The act or instance of pretending or deceiving.
Verb:
- To pretend or feign: To act in a false or deceptive way.
- To put on a false appearance of: To imitate something deceptively.
Adjective:
- The company was accused of selling sham products.
- He showed sham concern for his colleague's problems.
Noun:
- The spiritual guru was exposed as a sham.
- The peace talks were a complete sham, designed for publicity.
Verb:
- He shammed illness to avoid the exam.
- She shammed interest in the conversation.
"Sham marriage": A marriage entered into for fraudulent purposes, such as to gain legal status, without the intent of a genuine relationship.
- The immigration authorities investigated the couple for a sham marriage.
"Sham transaction": A business or financial deal that is not genuine, often used to conceal the true nature of an activity.
- The court ruled the contract was a sham transaction to avoid taxes.
Shammer (n): A person who shams; a fraud.
- The so-called expert was revealed to be a shammer.
Shammy (n): (Informal, different meaning) A soft leather, typically chamois leather, used for cleaning. (Note: This is a homophone with a different etymology and is not a variant of the deceptive 'sham').
- Adjective: Fake, false, bogus, counterfeit, pretended, feigned, spurious.
- Noun: Fraud, fake, impostor, hoax, pretence, counterfeit.
- Verb: Feign, pretend, fake, simulate, put on.
(Note: 'Sham' is not commonly used with particles to form phrasal verbs. Its usage is typically as a standalone verb, noun, or adjective.)
"A sham and a delusion": Something that is completely false and misleading.
- The trial was denounced as a sham and a delusion.
"Sham attack" / "Sham battle": A mock or practice military engagement.
- The troops conducted a sham battle as part of their training exercises.
- 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
- a person who makes deceitful pretenses
- something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be
- make believe with the intent to deceive
- He feigned that he was ill
- He shammed a headache
- make a pretence of
- She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger
- he feigned sleep