charades

Noun

charade (plural charades)

1. (archaic) A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.
   • CHARADE, a trifling species of composition, or quasi-literary form of amusement, which may perhaps be best defined as a punning enigma propounded in a series of descriptions. A word is taken of two or more syllables, each forming a distinct word; each of these is described in verse or prose, as...1878, "Charade" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. V, p. 398
2. (uncommon) A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
   • ...The most popular form of this amusement is the acted charade, in which the meaning of the different syllables is acted out on the stage, the audience being left to guess each syllable and thus, combining the meaning of all the syllables, the whole word. A brilliant example of the acted charade...1911, "Charade" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. V, p. 856

   Synonyms:

   acted charade, dumb charade

3. (obsolete) A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.
4. A deception or pretense, originally an absurdly obvious one but now in general use.
   • This whole charade is absurd.

   Synonyms:

   farce, sham

5. (crosswording) A form of wordplay where several words are placed together to form a new word or part thereof.
   • Sometimes the tricks above may be used in combination: a homophone may come in two pieces like a charade (RAINBOW sounding like REIGN + BEAU) or a charade may be reversed (TACKLE having ELK + CAT backwards).2009 May 5, Emily Cox, Henry Rathvon, The Atlantic Cryptic Crosswords, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 5

See all 6 meanings of charade