sham

(shăm)

a. Something false or empty that is purported to be genuine: "Because she had been so readily unfaithful, her marriage was a sham" (Alice Munro).

b. Deceitfulness or pretense: "She saw herself as a person surrounded by, living by, sham" (Alice Munro).

c. One who claims to be what he or she is not; an impostor or fraud: "He a man! Hell! He was a hollow sham!" (Joseph Conrad).

2. A decorative cover for a pillow.

adj.

Not genuine; fake: sham diamonds; sham modesty.

v. shammed, sham·ming, shams

v.tr.

To put on the false appearance of; feign: "shamming insanity to get his tormentors to leave him alone" (John Wain).

v.intr.

To assume a false appearance or character; dissemble.

[Perhaps dialectal variant of shame.]

sham′mer n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	shammer - someone shirking their duty by feigning illness or incapacity malingerer, skulker shirker, slacker - a person who shirks his work or duty (especially one who tries to evade military service in wartime)
	2.	shammer - a person who makes deceitful pretenses faker, imposter, impostor, pseud, pseudo, role player, sham, pretender, fraud, fake beguiler, cheater, deceiver, trickster, slicker, cheat - someone who leads you to believe something that is not true name dropper - someone who pretends that famous people are his/her friends ringer - a contestant entered in a competition under false pretenses

Translations

shammer

n → Schwindler(in) m(f), → Heuchler(in) m(f); (of illness) → Simulant(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007