charades

British  

/ ʃəˈrɑːdz /

noun

1. (functioning as singular) a parlour game in which one team acts out each syllable of a word, the other team having to guess the word

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Etymology

Origin of charades

C18: from French charade entertainment, from Provençal charrado chat, from charra chatter, of imitative origin

Example Sentences

Charades are foolproof: No sooner does a character overhear some false information than they are instantly bamboozled.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2023

Hiley, a composer and songwriter who is the artistic director of the Charades Theater Company in Edinburgh, was skeptical.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2022

Charades, board games and such were the entertainment, and “they would have people there like Fred Astaire just hanging around. And Burt Reynolds. My gosh, there were just so many,” Burnett said.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 3, 2021

And then you can do things like Charades and Hangman.

From Slate • Jun. 25, 2020

Charades at least might go over well, as long as the tableaux did not involve any reference to small, bushy-tailed animals that stored nuts in their cheeks.

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood