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sham

/ʃæm/adjective · noun · verb

Sham can refer to a person who makes deceitful pretenses or something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be. As a verb, sham can mean to make believe with the intent to deceive or make a pretence of.

5 meanings4 lettersScrabble 9

Length

4

Scrabble

9

WWF

9

Starts

SH

Ends

HAM

Difficulty

Easy

Dictionary

What Does “SHAM” Mean?

/ʃæm/

sham has 5 documented senses across adjective, noun, verb.

Adjective

1 sense
1

adopted in order to deceive

an assumed name

an assumed cheerfulness

a fictitious address

fictive sympathy

Noun

2 senses
1

something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be

Synonyms

2

a person who makes deceitful pretenses

Verb

2 senses
1

make a pretence of

She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger

he feigned sleep

2

make believe with the intent to deceive

He feigned that he was ill

He shammed a headache

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Vowels

1

Consonants

3

Word Intelligence

Explore the word sham with its definition, score, letter pattern, and useful word game details.

Definition

adopted in order to deceive

Length

4 letters

Starts With

S

Ends With

M

Vowels

1

Consonants

3

Letters

S, H, A, M

Use Case

Useful for Scrabble, Wordle, crosswords, anagrams, and other word games.

Letter Breakdown

s
h
a
m

Word Facts

Key letter, score, and pattern facts for sham.

SHAM is a 4-letter word.
It has a Scrabble score of 9.
It starts with S and ends with M.
It contains 1 vowel and 3 consonants.
Its vowel share is about 25%.
It is an isogram, meaning no letter repeats.
It is not a palindrome.
Letter pattern: ABCD.
Vowel/consonant pattern: CCVC.

Word Strategy

Strategy notes for using sham in Scrabble, Wordle-style games, crosswords, and anagram solving.

Scrabble Strategy

★★★☆☆

SHAM has a Scrabble score of 9. It is useful for balancing a rack and building steady board position.

Wordle Strategy

★★☆☆☆

SHAM is not five letters, so it is not a standard Wordle answer, but its letter pattern can still help with word analysis.

Crossword Strategy

★★★★☆

SHAM can be useful in crossword solving because it has a clear starting letter, ending letter, and 4-letter structure.

Anagram Strategy

★★★★☆

SHAM uses unique letters, giving more flexibility when checking possible anagrams and word game combinations.

Letter Intelligence

A deeper look at the letter structure, patterns, and useful game signals inside sham.

Unique Letters

4

Repeated Letters

0

Highest Value Letter

H

Letter Pattern

ABCD

CV Pattern

CCVC

Vowel Share

25%

Consonant Share

75%

Bigrams

SH, HA, AM

Trigrams

SHA, HAM

Crossword Intelligence

Crossword-style clues, crossing help, and pattern notes for sham.

SHAM is a 4-letter short fill.
It starts with S and ends with M, which helps narrow crossword crossings.
It contains 1 vowel and 3 consonants.
Its vowel/consonant pattern is CCVC.
Crossword difficulty estimate: Easy.

Related Words

Word Usage Insights

Practical observations about how this word performs in different word games and puzzle situations.

This word contains 4 letters and is suitable for medium-length word games.
Its consonant/vowel pattern is CCVC, making it relatively challenging to recognize.
With a Scrabble score of 9, it offers moderate scoring potential.
The word begins with S and ends with M, making it useful for solving pattern-based puzzles.
Every letter appears only once.

Word Intelligence Links

Explore word lists connected to SHAM by length, score, vowels, consonants, starting letters, ending letters, and word game tools.

Word Family

Explore words that share a similar beginning or root pattern with sham.

Related Word Tools

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