# sham vs sum

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

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

### sum
*noun · IPA /sʌm/ · frequency rank #4,050*
A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sham-vs-sum