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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Games A game in which words or phrases are represented in pantomime, sometimes syllable by syllable, until they are guessed by the other players.
  2. n. Games An episode in this game or a word or phrase so represented.
  3. n. A readily perceived pretense; a travesty: went through the charade of a public apology.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. An enigma whose solution is a word of two or more syllables, each of which is separately significant in sound, and which, as well as the whole word, must be discovered from a dialogue or description in which it is used, or from dramatic representation.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Something apparently real but based on pretence/pretense.
  2. n. A party game in which players mime a word or phrase that the other players must try to guess.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. 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.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a word acted out in an episode of the game of charades
  2. n. a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way

Etymologies

  1. French, probably from Provençal charrado, chat, from charra, to chat, chatter, perhaps from Italian ciarlare.

Examples

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘charade’.

Comments

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‘charade’ has been looked up 2344 times, loved by 1 person, added to 25 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 13.