different between tawdry vs sham

English

Etymology

Shortened from tawdry lace; originally a corruption of Saint Audrey lace (from Old English Æþelþryþ). The lace necklaces sold to pilgrims to Saint Audrey fell out of fashion in the 17th century, and so tawdry was reinterpreted as meaning “cheap” or “vulgar”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t??d?i/

Noun

tawdry (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Tawdry lace. [17th c.]
2. (obsolete) Anything gaudy and cheap; pretentious finery. [17th–19th c.]
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 65:

     That fiddling, parading fellow (you know who I mean) made us wait for him two hours […] only for the sake of having a little more tawdry upon his housings […].

Adjective

tawdry (comparative tawdrier, superlative tawdriest)

1. (of clothing, appearance, etc.) Cheap and gaudy; showy.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:gaudy

   • 1890, Knut Hamsen, Sult (Hunger), Part One, at p.34 (Canongate Books Ltd. 2016 paperback edition, Sverre Lyngstad 1996 translation):

     This wasn't really a room for me; the green curtains before the windows were rather tawdry, and there was anything but an abundance of nails on the walls for hanging one's wardrobe.
2. (of character, behavior, situations, etc.) Unseemly, base, shameful.

   Synonym: sordid

Translations

Further reading

• tawdry at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æm/
• Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

Probably a dialectal form of shame.

Adjective

sham

1. Intended to deceive; false.

2. counterfeit; unreal
   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides

     They scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians.

Synonyms

• mock
• See also Thesaurus:fake

Antonyms

• genuine
• sincere
• real

Derived terms

• shammish

Translations

Noun

sham (countable and uncountable, plural shams)

1. A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.

2. Trickery, hoaxing.

3. A false front, or removable ornamental covering.
4. A decorative cover for a pillow.

Derived terms

• shamateur

Translations

See also

• pillow sham

Verb

sham (third-person singular simple present shams, present participle shamming, simple past and past participle shammed)

1. To deceive, cheat, lie.
2. To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
3. To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

sham (uncountable)

1. (slang) Champagne.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of William Makepeace Thackeray to this entry?)

     So I orders a bottle, as if for myself; and, 'Ma'am,' says I, 'will you take a glass of Sham — just one?'

Further reading

• sham in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sham in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• sham at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• AMHS, HMAS, HSAM, Hams, MASH, MHAs, MSHA, Mahs, Mash, SAHM, Sahm, hams, mash

Karakalpak

Etymology

From Arabic ????

Noun

sham

1. candle

Uzbek

Etymology

From Arabic ????

Noun

sham (plural shamlar)

1. candle