charade

charade
/sheuh rayd"/; esp. Brit. /sheuh rahd"/, n.
1. charades, (used with a sing. v.) a game in which the players are typically divided into two teams, members of which take turns at acting out in pantomime a word, phrase, title, etc., which the members of their own team must guess.
2. a word or phrase acted out in this game.
3. a blatant pretense or deception, esp. something so full of pretense as to be a travesty.
[1770-80; < F < Pr charrad(o) entertainment, equiv. to charr(á) to chat, chatter (from imit. root) + -ado -ADE1]

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▪ game
      originally a kind of riddle, probably invented in France during the 18th century, in which a word or phrase is divined by guessing and combining its different syllables, each of which is described independently by the giver of the charade. Charades may be given in prose or verse. The following is an example of a poetic charade:

My first is a Tartar,
My second a letter;
My all is a country,
No Christmas dish better.

      The solution is Turkey (Turk-e).

      The most popular form of this amusement is the acted charade, in which the different syllables are acted out. A brilliant description of the acted charade is given in William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair (1848). In the United States the charade in somewhat different form was resurgent in the 1930s and 1940s and again after World War II. It was called “the Game” and was frequently played at parties. The group of players was divided into two teams. Each team designated one member of the opposing team to act out a quotation, the name of a person living or dead, a phrase, or an idea in such manner that his teammates might identify it. The designated actor was not permitted to use his voice or to indicate any inanimate object in the room. The actor tried to assist his teammates in guessing the subject in the shortest possible time. The team that arrived at the correct answer in the shorter time won.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • charade — [ ʃarad ] n. f. • 1770; provenç. charrado « causerie », de charra « causer » ♦ Énigme où l on doit deviner un mot de plusieurs syllabes décomposé en parties correspondant à un mot défini. ⇒ devinette. Le mot de la charade s appelle le tout ou l… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Charade — may refer to: Charades, a parlor game In films: Charade (1953 film), an American film featuring James Mason Charade (1963 film), an American film starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn Charade (1984 film), a Canadian animated short film by John… …   Wikipedia

  • Charade — bezeichnet ein Spiel mit pantomimischer Darstellung oder eine spezielle Form des Silbenrätsels, siehe Scharade etwas, das als wahr erscheint, aber auf einer Vortäuschung beruht (aus dem frz.) einen Film mit Cary Grant und Audrey Hepburn aus dem… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Charade — Nom très rare que les plus anciennes mentions situent dans l Ardèche, beaucoup plus fréquent sous la forme Charrade, portée dans la Haute Loire. Il désigne celui qui habite un lieu dit (la) Charade, (la) Charrade ou en est originaire. Outre le… …   Noms de famille

  • 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 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Charade — nennt man diejenige Abart des Räthsels, die den Sinn eines Wortes aus dessen einzelnen Sylben, deren jede eine für sich bestehende Bedeutung hat, errathen läßt. Um eine Charade gelungen zu nennen, muß darin zwischen den einzelnen Monosyllaben… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

  • charade — (n.) 1776, from Fr. charade (18c.), from Prov. charrado long talk, chatter, of obscure origin, perhaps from charrar to chatter, gossip, of echoic origin. Cf. It. ciarlare, Sp. charlar to talk, prattle. Originally not silent, but relying on… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Charade — (fr., spr. Scharade), Sylbenräthsel), die in einer kleinen poetischen Form enthaltene Darstellung eines Gegenstandes, welcher zwar nicht genannt, aber dadurch zu erkennen u. zu errathen ist, daß die einzelnen Sylben als für sich bestehende Wörter …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Charade — (franz.), s. Scharade …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Charade — Charade, s. Scharade …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Charade — (Scharade) Sylbenräthsel, indem man zuerst die Bedeutung der einzelnen Sylben und zuletzt des ganzen Wortes angibt, das nun aus diesen Andeutungen errathen werden soll …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

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