# charade

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃəˈɹɑːd/ · frequency rank #32,729

## Definitions
1. A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.
2. A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
3. 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.
5. A form of wordplay where several words are placed together to form a new word or part thereof.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **chard** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/charade-vs-chard)
- **charge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/charade-vs-charge)
- **Charlie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/charade-vs-charlie)
- **comrade** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/charade-vs-comrade)
- **chara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chara-vs-charade)

## Common misspellings (10)
`cahrade`, `ccharade`, `chaarde`, `charadde`, `charaed`, `chardae`, `charrade`, `chharade`, `chraade`, `hcarade`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/charade