Search Result for "sham": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be;
[syn: fake, sham, postiche]

2. a person who makes deceitful pretenses;
[syn: imposter, impostor, pretender, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player]


VERB (2)

1. make a pretence of;
- Example: "She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger"
- Example: "he feigned sleep"
[syn: simulate, assume, sham, feign]

2. make believe with the intent to deceive;
- Example: "He feigned that he was ill"
- Example: "He shammed a headache"
[syn: feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble]


ADJECTIVE (1)

1. adopted in order to deceive;
- Example: "an assumed name"
- Example: "an assumed cheerfulness"
- Example: "a fictitious address"
- Example: "fictive sympathy"
- Example: "a pretended interest"
- Example: "a put-on childish voice"
- Example: "sham modesty"
[syn: assumed, false, fictitious, fictive, pretended, put on, sham]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sham \Sham\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shammed; p. pr. & vb. n. Shamming.] 1. To trick; to cheat; to deceive or delude with false pretenses. [1913 Webster] Fooled and shammed into a conviction. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster] 2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition. [R.] [1913 Webster] We must have a care that we do not . . . sham fallacies upon the world for current reason. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster] 3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign. [1913 Webster] To sham Abram or To sham Abraham, to feign sickness; to malinger. Hence a malingerer is called, in sailors' cant, Sham Abram, or Sham Abraham. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sham \Sham\, v. i. To make false pretenses; to deceive; to feign; to impose. [1913 Webster] Wondering . . . whether those who lectured him were such fools as they professed to be, or were only shamming. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sham \Sham\ (sh[a^]m), n. [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 disappoints; a make-believe; delusion; imposture; humbug. "A mere sham." --Bp. Stillingfleet. [1913 Webster] Believe who will the solemn sham, not I. --Addison. [1913 Webster] 2. A false front, or removable ornamental covering. [1913 Webster] Pillow sham, a covering to be laid on a pillow. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sham \Sham\, a. False; counterfeit; pretended; feigned; unreal; as, a sham fight. [1913 Webster] They scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians. --Jowett (Thucyd) [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

sham adj 1: 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" [syn: assumed, false, fictitious, fictive, pretended, put on, sham] n 1: something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be [syn: fake, sham, postiche] 2: a person who makes deceitful pretenses [syn: imposter, impostor, pretender, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player] v 1: make a pretence of; "She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger"; "he feigned sleep" [syn: simulate, assume, sham, feign] 2: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble]