sham
/ʃæm/
"sham" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sham” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,126 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #16,126
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Intended to deceive; false.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sham |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ʃæm/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #16,126 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sham” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sham is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃæm/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,126 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for sham, with forms such as "hsam", "sahm", and "shamm". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SM", "she", "sum", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably a dialectal form of shame. Alternatively, sham is a term that is used to describe the bottom thick base of a glass, usually a wine or stem glass, where the stem meets the bulbous shape bowl. Glass manufacturers would increase the "sham" to deceive … The correct English form is sham, spelled S-H-A-M.
Definition
- 1Intended to deceive; false.
- 2Counterfeit; unreal.
Etymology
Probably a dialectal form of shame. Alternatively, sham is a term that is used to describe the bottom thick base of a glass, usually a wine or stem glass, where the stem meets the bulbous shape bowl. Glass manufacturers would increase the "sham" to deceive customers into thinking a glass holds more than it actually does. For example, a manufacturer would mold a 12oz glass with a larger "sham" in the base to reduce the volume of the glasses to fit 10-11oz of liquid. By increasing the bulge in the base, usually where the stem meets the glass, it is almost impossible to visually distinguish the difference. This gives the illusion the glass size is the same as any another 12oz glass, but the inside will hold a lesser volume. Later, bringing use to the term "you got shammed" when one party tries to hide something and/or get over on the other party using deceiving tactics.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsam,sahm,shamm,shham,shma,ssham
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sham - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “sham”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-A-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ʃæm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “SM” - see the side-by-side comparison. sham vs SM
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.