"shams" in the noun sense

1. fake, sham, postiche

something that is a counterfeit not what it seems to be

2. imposter, impostor, pretender, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player

a person who makes deceitful pretenses

"shams" in the verb sense

1. simulate, assume, sham, feign

make a pretence of

"She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger"

"he feigned sleep"

2. feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble

make believe with the intent to deceive

"He feigned that he was ill"

"He shammed a headache"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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