| Front | sham |
|---|---|
| Back | sham noun, adjective, verb BrE /ʃæm/ NAmE /ʃæm/ noun word origin (disapproving) 1 [singular] a situation, feeling, system, etc. that is not as good or true as it seems to be The latest crime figures are a complete sham. She felt trapped in a sham of a marriage. 2 [countable, usually singular] a person who pretends to be sth that they are not The article exposes him for the sham that he really is. 3 [uncountable] behaviour, feelings, words, etc. that are intended to make sb/sth seem to be better than they really are Their promises turned out to be full of sham and hypocrisy. His intellectual pretensions are all sham. adjective word origin example bank [only before noun] (usually disapproving) not genuine but intended to seem real false a sham marriage verb verb forms word origin (-mm-) [intransitive, transitive] ~ (sth)| + adj. to pretend sth Is he really sick or is he just shamming? |
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