# sham vs shear

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### sham
*adjective · IPA /ʃæm/ · frequency rank #16,126*
Intended to deceive; false.

### shear
*verb · IPA /ʃɪə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #17,239*
To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sham-vs-shear