charade

noun

cha·​rade shə-ˈrād  -ˈräd 

1

: a word represented in riddling verse or by picture, tableau, or dramatic action (such as intrusion represented by depiction of inn, true, and shun)

2

charades 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

Synonyms

• act
• airs
• disguise
• facade
• façade
• front
• guise
• masquerade
• playacting
• pose
• pretense
• pretence
• put-on
• semblance
• show

Examples of charade in a Sentence

We've grown tired of your charades.

put on a convincing charade to keep her from knowing about the surprise party

Recent Examples on the Web

Was that the proper time to pull the covers off the charade? —Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 28 Nov. 2023

Off the floor, other members of Fox seemed equally tired of the charade. —Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, The New Republic, 18 Oct. 2023

After teaming up to compete in the charades segment of a quiz show hosted by Will Ferrell’s Alex Trebek-like character, the two sisters openly acknowledge their love for each other. —Caroline Brew, Variety, 4 Nov. 2023

Rather than indulge this charade, the White House and Congress should issue an ultimatum to Qatar: Shut down all support for Hamas and deliver the hostages, or suffer the consequences. —Richard Goldberg, WSJ, 31 Oct. 2023

These incongruities remind you that the company’s games are just one big Truman Show, a mechanical charade populated by automatons. —Will Bedingfield, WIRED, 8 Sep. 2023

The charade has cost the city tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and other expenses. —Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2023

But having taken my kids to pick-your-own-strawberry fields, many of which employ seasonal workers from Mexico and Jamaica under an exploitative national labour program, the idea of treating field work as recreation feels more like the charade. —Hazlitt, 6 Sep. 2023

The practice of brownface—a close cousin of yellowface that involved a white actor darkening their skin through mounds of makeup to cosplay as South Asian—was a routine charade for many white actors. —Hazlitt, 6 Sep. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

French, from Occitan charrado chat, from charrá to chat, chatter

First Known Use

1776, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

charade

noun

cha·​rade shə-ˈrād 

1

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

2

: an act that is meaningless or is meant to deceive