charade


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cha·rade

 (shə-rād′)
n.
1. Games
a. charades(used with a sing. or pl. verb) A game in which words or phrases are represented in pantomime, sometimes syllable by syllable, until they are guessed by the other players.
b. An episode in this game or a word or phrase so represented.
2. A readily perceived pretense; a travesty: went through the charade of a public apology.
[French, probably from Provençal charrado, chat, from charra, to chat, chatter, perhaps from Italian ciarlare.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

charade

(ʃəˈrɑːd)
n
1. (Games, other than specified) an episode or act in the game of charades
2. chiefly Brit an absurd act; travesty
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cha•rade

(ʃəˈreɪd; esp. Brit. ʃəˈrɑd)

n.
1. charades, (used with a sing. v.) a game in which players act out in pantomime a word, phrase, title, etc., often syllable by syllable, for members of their team to guess.
2. a word or phrase acted out in pantomime.
3. a blatant pretense or deception; travesty.
[1770–80; < French < Occitan charrado entertainment =charr(á) to chat, chatter (of expressive orig.) + -ado -ade1]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.charade - a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous waycharade - a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way
parody, pasquinade, put-on, sendup, spoof, lampoon, mockery, burlesque, travesty, takeoff
caricature, impersonation, imitation - a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect
2.charade - a word acted out in an episode of the game of charades
charades - player acts out a phrase for others to guess
word - a unit of language that native speakers can identify; "words are the blocks from which sentences are made"; "he hardly said ten words all morning"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

charade

noun pretence, farce, parody, pantomime, fake They went through an elaborate charade of pretending they had never met before.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

charade

noun
The presentation of something false as true:
make-believe, pretense.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
تَظاهُر هَزَلي مَكْشوف
parodie
paradenummer
látaleikur, skopstæling
akivaizdi apgaulėšarada
farss

charade

[ʃəˈrɑːd] N (frm, pej) → payasada f, farsa f charades (= game) → charada f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

charade

[ʃəˈrɑːd]
n (= pretence) → mascarade f
to be a charade → être une mascarade charades
npl (= game) → charades fpl
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

charade

n → Scharade f; (fig) → Farce f, → Affentheater nt (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

charade

[ʃəˈrɑːd] n
a. (pretence) → farsa
b. charades npl (game) → sciarada fsg
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

charade

(ʃəˈraːd) , ((American) ʃəˈreid) noun
a piece of ridiculous pretence which is so obvious that it does not deceive anyone.
chaˈrades noun singular
a game in which each syllable of a word, and then the whole word, is acted and the audience has to guess the word.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
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References in classic literature ?
He called for a few moments, just to leave a piece of paper on the table containing, as he said, a charade, which a friend of his had addressed to a young lady, the object of his admiration, but which, from his manner, Emma was immediately convinced must be his own.
Where would be the use of his bringing us a charade made by a friend upon a mermaid or a shark?
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A portion of that splendid room, the picture gallery of Gaunt House, was arranged as the charade theatre.
He led off the first charade. A Turkish officer with an immense plume of feathers (the Janizaries were supposed to be still in existence, and the tarboosh had not as yet displaced the ancient and majestic head-dress of the true believers) was seen couched on a divan, and making believe to puff at a narghile, in which, however, for the sake of the ladies, only a fragrant pastille was allowed to smoke.
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So everyone but Mac, the gay Westerner, and Rose, took their places on the rocky seats and discussed the late beautiful and varied charade, in which Pokey frankly pronounced her own scene the "bestest of all."
As soon as the merry meal and a brief interval of repose were over, it was unanimously voted to have some charades. A smooth, green spot between two stately pines was chosen for the stage; shawls hung up, properties collected, audience and actors separated, and a word quickly chosen.
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"Bridewell!" exclaimed Colonel Dent, and the charade was solved.
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Badger, speaking of her former husbands as if they were parts of a charade, "I still enjoyed opportunities of observing youth.
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And yet people do not get hanged or run through the body for the sake of a charade.
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Such disappointments only gave greater zest to the nights when we acted charades, or had a costume ball in the back parlour, with Sally always dressed like a boy.
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They had never, I think, wanted to do so many things for their poor protectress; I mean--though they got their lessons better and better, which was naturally what would please her most-- in the way of diverting, entertaining, surprising her; reading her passages, telling her stories, acting her charades, pouncing out at her, in disguises, as animals and historical characters, and above all astonishing her by the "pieces" they had secretly got by heart and could interminably recite.
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The acting of charades was tried on several evenings by the young gentlemen and ladies, in the cabins, and proved the most distinguished success of all the amusement experiments.
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