sham C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary US /ʃæm/ UK /ʃæm/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a fraud or pretence; fake; to feign The whole trial turned out to be a sham. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a fraud or pretence; fake;... fraudpretencehoaxcounterfeitfakeimitation ↔ Opposites genuineauthenticreal Word family Derived forms shammershamming Related forms shame Etymology AI details First attested in late 17th-century English slang; probably a northern dialectal variant of shame, in the sense of 'a trick, a fraud'. Topics General Vocabulary External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # sham **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ʃæm/ **IPA (UK):** /ʃæm/ ## Meanings 1. a fraud or pretence; fake; to feign ## Examples - The whole trial turned out to be a sham. ## Synonyms - fraud - pretence - hoax - counterfeit - fake - imitation ## Antonyms - genuine - authentic - real ## Derived Forms - shammer - shamming ## Related Forms - shame ## Etymology First attested in late 17th-century English slang; probably a northern dialectal variant of shame, in the sense of 'a trick, a fraud'. ## AI Etymology Sham is first attested in late 17th-century English slang; probably a northern dialectal variant of shame, in the sense of 'a trick, a fraud'. In present-day use, it means a fraud or pretence; fake; to feign. Derived formations include shammer and shamming. Related vocabulary includes shame. ## Topics - General Vocabulary markdown