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sham

Pronunciation: /ˈʃæm/

The English word “sham” has 9 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Intended to deceive; false.
  2. Counterfeit; unreal.

noun

  1. A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.
  2. Trickery, hoaxing.
  3. A false front, or removable ornamental covering.
  4. A decorative cover for a pillow.

verb

  1. To deceive, cheat, lie.
  2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
  3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.

Etymology

Probably a dialectal form of shame. Alternatively, sham is a term that is used to describe the bottom thick base of a glass, usually a wine or stem glass, where the stem meets the bulbous shape bowl. Glass manufacturers would increase the "sham" to deceive customers into thinking a glass holds more than it actually does. For example, a manufacturer would mold a 12oz glass with a larger "sham" in…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.