Sham

//ʃæm//

Synonyms for "sham" (360 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (72)

fake feign fictitious mock simulate rip off act act a part acting adulterated affect affectation affected affectedness airs airs and graces alibi ape apocryphal apology

Show 39 more words

Verb(7 words)

abuse affect assume bilk cod con cozen

Adjective(1 words)

assumed

Adjective(1 words)

bad

Noun(4 words)

bogan champagne charade chav

Strong matches (108)

Verb(7 words)

cross out deceive dissemble do feign fudge get

daring dash deceit deception delusion demonstration device disguise display dissemblance dissemble dissembling dissimulate dissimulation distorted do a bit dramatics dramatize dressed up dummy

Show 74 more words

Noun(4 words)

deceptivity fake faker fraud

Adjective(3 words)

false fictitious fictive

Related words (180)

impersonator imposter impostor imposture insincerity invent invention junk junky lame excuse lay it on thick let on let on like lie locus standi made-up make a pretense make a show of make as if make believe

Show 137 more words

make like make out like make-believe malingerer man made man-made manifestation mannerism mask masquerade mere show meretriciousness mimic mislead mockery mountebank ostensible motive ostentation outward show overact pageant pageantry parade paste pecksniffery perverted pharisaicalness pharisaism phoney phony pinchbeck plagiarized plaster plastic play play a part play a scene play possum playact playacting poor excuse pose poser poseur posing posture presupposition pretence pretend pretended pretender pretense pretension pretext profess protestation prunes and prisms pseudo public image public motive put off put on put on airs put up job put-off put-on put-up job putting on airs quack quacksalver quackster quasi queer refuge representation ringer rip-off saltimbanco sanctimoniousness sanctimony screen seeming self-styled sell semblance shammer shoddy show showing off showing-off simulacrum simulated simulation smoke screen snide so called so-called soi-disant sophistic speciousness spectacle splash splurge spoof spurious staginess stalking horse stalking-horse stratagem stylishness substitute subterfuge supposititious swindle synthetic tartuffery tartuffism theatrics tin tinsel titivated travesty trick tug the heartstrings twisted unauthentic ungenuine unnatural unnaturalness unreal varnish vaunt veil warped wear whited sepulcher window dressing

Noun(10 words)

imposter impostor knacker postiche pretender pseud pseudo redneck role player shammer

Verb(10 words)

jiff lead astray overreach pimp pretend sell someone a pup shaft shit simulate slur

Adjective(1 words)

mock

Adjective(2 words)

pretended put on

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

8 relation types

More general

12 entries

act beguiler belie cheat cheater deceiver dissemble imitation misrepresent pretend slicker trickster

Antonyms

3 entries

genuine real sincere

Synonyms

6 entries

fake feign fictitious imposter mock simulate

Related terms

1 entries

pillow sham

derived

8 entries

Uncle Sham sham marriage shamateur shamboo shamburger shamdemic shammer shammish

etymologically related_to

1 entries

shame

related to

9 entries

counterfeit deceive fake false hoaxing imitation pillow sham trickery unreal

similar

5 entries

counterfeit imitative make make believe pretend

Translations

100 translations across 21 languages.

Bulgarian

4 entries

подправен adj (intended to deceive)
престорен adj (intended to deceive)
измама noun (fake, imitation)
имитация noun (fake, imitation)

Chinese Cantonese

2 entries

迷思 noun (trickery, hoaxing)
迷雾 noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Chinese Mandarin

4 entries

偽 /伪 adj (intended to deceive)
( noun (trickery, hoaxing)
迷思 noun (trickery, hoaxing)
迷雾 noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Czech

4 entries

falešný adj (intended to deceive)
naoko adj (intended to deceive)
předstíraný adj (intended to deceive)
bouda noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Dutch

4 entries

bedrog noun (trickery, hoaxing)
imitatie noun (fake, imitation)
kwakzalverij noun (trickery, hoaxing)
nep noun (fake, imitation)

Esperanto

4 entries

falsa adj (intended to deceive)
pseŭda adj (intended to deceive)
trompa adj (intended to deceive)
falsaĵo noun (fake, imitation)

Finnish

4 entries

näennäinen adj (intended to deceive)
huijaus noun (trickery, hoaxing)
huiputus noun (trickery, hoaxing)
jäljennös noun (fake, imitation)

French

4 entries

astuce noun (trickery, hoaxing)
faux-semblant noun (fake, imitation)
feinte noun (trickery, hoaxing)
ruse noun (trickery, hoaxing)

German

4 entries

Schein adj (intended to deceive)
falsch adj (intended to deceive)
Betrug noun (trickery, hoaxing)
Fälschung noun (fake, imitation)

Greek

1 entries

ψευδής noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Hungarian

1 entries

ál adj (intended to deceive)

Italian

4 entries

fasullo adj (intended to deceive)
falso noun (fake, imitation)
finta noun (trickery, hoaxing)
trucco noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Japanese

4 entries

ごまかし noun (trickery, hoaxing)
まやかし noun (trickery, hoaxing)
真似事 noun (fake, imitation)
紛い物 noun (fake, imitation)

Lushootseed

2 entries

səxʷʔiw̓adəb noun (fake, imitation)
səxʷʔiw̓adəb verb (to cheat or deceive)

Ottoman Turkish

4 entries

ساخته adj (intended to deceive)
یالان adj (intended to deceive)
یالانجی adj (intended to deceive)
یالان noun (fake, imitation)

Polish

1 entries

udawany adj (intended to deceive)

Portuguese

2 entries

farsa noun (fake, imitation)
farsa noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Romanian

2 entries

păcăleală adj (intended to deceive)
păcăli verb (to cheat or deceive)

Russian

4 entries

фальшивый adj (intended to deceive)
фикти́вный adj (intended to deceive)
жу́льничество noun (trickery, hoaxing)
моше́нничество noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Spanish

4 entries

falso adj (intended to deceive)
ficticio adj (intended to deceive)
fingido adj (intended to deceive)
sacha adj (intended to deceive)

Turkish

2 entries

dolap noun (trickery, hoaxing)
üçkâğıt noun (trickery, hoaxing)

Sample sentences

21 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

The Bermuda Triangle is a sham.

Source: tatoeba (1192323)

Because so many people want a European passport, sham marriages are on the rise.

Source: tatoeba (1213708)

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.

Source: tatoeba (1490964)

It's a complete sham.

Source: tatoeba (1494577)

Showing 4 of 21 available sentences.

More for "sham"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.