sham vs pretender

sham and pretender both are nouns.

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

As nouns, sham and pretender are synonyms defined as:

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

sham (noun)	pretender (noun)
something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be	a person who makes deceitful pretenses
a person who makes deceitful pretenses	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

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

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