Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
Topics: literature, media, publishing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncommon
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: acted charade, dumb charade
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A deception or pretense, originally an absurdly obvious one but now in general use.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: farce, sham
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A form of wordplay where several words are placed together to form a new word or part thereof.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: crosswording
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To act out a charade (of); to gesture; to pretend.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
a word acted out in an episode of the game of charades
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: word
noun
a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: parody, lampoon, spoof, sendup, mockery, takeoff, burlesque, travesty, pasquinade, put-on
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: caricature, imitation, impersonation
History
From French charade, charrade (“prattle, idle conversation; a kind of riddle”), probably from Occitan charrada (“conversation; chatter”), from charrar (“to chat; to chatter”) + -ada. As a round of the game, originally a clipping of acting charade but now usually understood and formed as a back-formation from charades.
Across languages
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
