Adjacent Words

Charade definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CHARADE, n. A composition, in which the subject must be a word of two syllables, each forming a distinct word; and these syllables are to be concealed in an enigmatical description, first separately and then together. Example. My first, when a Frenchman in learning English, serves him to swear by. My second is either hay or corn. My whole is the delight of the age.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way [syn: parody, lampoon, spoof, sendup, mockery, takeoff, burlesque, travesty, charade, pasquinade, put-on]
2: a word acted out in an episode of the game of charades

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: French, from Occitan charrado chat, from charrá to chat, chatter Date: 1776 1. a word represented in riddling verse or by picture, tableau, or dramatic action 2. plural a game in which some of the players try to guess a word or phrase from the actions of another player who may not speak 3. an empty or deceptive act or pretense <his concern was a charade>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a (usu. in pl., treated as sing.) a game of guessing a word from a written or acted clue given for each syllable and for the whole. b one such clue. 2 an absurd pretence. Etymology: F f. mod.Prov. charrado conversation f. charra chatter

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Charade Cha*rade", n. [F. charade, cf. Pr. charrada long chat, It ciarlare to chat, whence E. charlatan.] 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(charades) 1. If you describe someone's actions as a charade, you mean that their actions are so obviously false that they do not convince anyone. I wondered why he had gone through the elaborate charade... The UN at the moment is still trying to maintain the charade of neutrality. N-COUNT: usu sing [disapproval] 2. Charades is a game for teams of players in which one team acts a word or phrase, syllable by syllable, until other players guess the whole word or phrase.

Moby Thesaurus

Grand Guignol, Passion play, Tom show, absurdity, anagram, antimasque, audience success, ballet, bearing, beck, beckon, body language, bomb, broadcast drama, burlesque show, carriage, chironomy, cliff hanger, closet drama, comedy drama, conundrum, critical success, dactylology, daytime serial, deaf-and-dumb alphabet, dialogue, disguise, documentary drama, drama, dramalogue, dramatic play, dramatic series, dumb show, duodrama, duologue, epic theater, experimental theater, extravaganza, failure, farce, flop, gasser, gesticulation, gesture, gesture language, giveaway, hand signal, happening, hit, hit show, improvisational drama, kinesics, legitimate drama, logogriph, make-believe, masque, melodrama, minstrel show, miracle, miracle play, mockery, monodrama, monologue, morality, morality play, motion, movement, music drama, musical revue, mystery, mystery play, opera, pageant, panel show, pantomime, parody, pastoral, pastoral drama, piece, play, playlet, poise, pose, posture, pretension, pretentiousness, problem play, psychodrama, quiz show, radio drama, rebus, review, revue, riddle, sensational play, serial, show, shrug, sign language, sitcom, situation comedy, sketch, skit, soap, soap opera, sociodrama, spectacle, stage play, stage show, stance, straight drama, success, suspense drama, tableau, tableau vivant, talk show, teleplay, television drama, television play, theater of cruelty, total theater, travesty, variety show, vaudeville, vaudeville show, vehicle, word-of-mouth success, work