counterfactual vs sham

counterfactual

adj
  • Contrary to known or agreed facts; untrue. 

  • Of or in comparison to a hypothetical state of the world. 

noun
  • A conditional statement in which the conditional clause is false. 

  • A claim, hypothesis, or other belief that is contrary to the facts. 

  • A hypothetical state of the world, used to assess the impact of an action. 

sham

adj
  • Intended to deceive; false. 

  • mock 

  • counterfeit; unreal 

  • See also Thesaurus:fake 

noun
  • A decorative cover for a pillow. 

  • A false front, or removable ornamental covering. 

  • Trickery, hoaxing. 

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

  • Champagne. 

verb
  • To obtrude by fraud or imposition. 

  • To deceive, cheat, lie. 

  • To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign. 

How often have the words counterfactual and sham occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )