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Added 10 October 2026

charade

/ʃəˈɹɑːd/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about charade at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.
A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.

verb

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

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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