pretender vs sham

pretender and sham both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
pretender	Yes	No	No	No
sham	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

As nouns, pretender and sham are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of pretender include fake, faker, fraud, imposter, impostor, pseud, pseudo, role player, shammer.

pretender (noun)	sham (noun)
a person who makes deceitful pretenses	something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be
a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives	a person who makes deceitful pretenses

pretender (adjective)	sham (adjective)
	adopted in order to deceive

pretender (verb)	sham (verb)
	make believe with the intent to deceive
	make a pretence of