charade
UK /ʃəˈɹɑːd/ · US /ʃəˈɹeɪd/ noun, verb
Forms charades charading charaded
- noun (literature, 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.
- noun (uncommon) A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
- noun (obsolete) A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.
- noun A deception or pretense, originally an absurdly obvious one but now in general use. “This whole charade is absurd.”
- noun (crosswording) 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
acted charade dumb charade farce sham parody lampoon spoof sendup mockery takeoff burlesque travesty pasquinade put-on
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A verbal or acted enigma based upon a word which has two or more significant syllables or parts, each of which, as well as the word itself, is to be guessed from the descriptions or representations.
Etymology [F. charade, cf. Pr. charrada long chat, It ciarlare to chat, whence E. charlatan.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “charade”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details