charade

Meaning

Noun

1. (archaic) A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.
2. (uncommon) A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
3. (obsolete) A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.
4. A deception or pretense, originally an absurdly obvious one but now in general use.
5. A form of wordplay where several words are placed together to form a new word or part thereof.

Verb

To act out a charade (of); to gesture; to pretend.

Synonyms

spoof

sendup

parody

mockery

lampoon

pasquinade

travesty

burlesque

put-on

takeoff

skit

taunting

playacting

mimcry

dumb show

farce

pantomime

parodies

put-up job

puzzle

puzzler

riddle

scoffing

Translations

charada

Scharade

parodia

charade

parodie

charade

paródia

farsa

farsa

paròdia

charada

parodier

γρίφος

pamphlet

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃəˈɹɑːd/

Etymology

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.