charade
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: shərädʹ
ipa: /ʃəˈɹɑːd/
enpr: shərādʹ
ipa: /ʃəˈɹeɪd/
rhymes: -ɑːd
rhymes: -eɪd
Forms: form: charades
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.
Senses: examples: text: 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 aptly and enigmatically as possible; and the same process is applied to the whole word. The neater and briefer the descriptive parts of the problem, the better the charade will be. In selecting words for charades, special attention should be paid to the absolute quality of the syllables composing them, inaccuracy in trifles of this sort depriving them of what little claim to merit they may possess. The brilliant rhythmic trifles of W. Mackworth Praed are well known. Of representative prose charades, the following specimens are perhaps as good as could be selected:—“My first, with the most rooted antipathy to a Frenchman, prides himself, whenever they meet, upon sticking close to his jacket; my second has many virtues, nor is its least that it gives its name to my first; my whole may I never catch!” “My first is company; my second shuns company; my third collects company; and my whole amuses company.” The solutions are Tar-tar and Co-nun-drum.
ref: 1878, "Charade" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. V, p. 398
topics: literature
media
publishing
glosses: A genre of riddles where the clues to the answer are descriptions or puns on its syllables, with a final clue to the whole.
examples: text: ...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 is described in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.
ref: 1911, "Charade" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. V, p. 856
synonyms: word: acted charade
word: dumb charade
glosses: A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
glosses: A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.
examples: text: This whole charade is absurd.
text: The woman lying dead in the morgue was the woman at the party. Well, Victor, maybe I'm missing something here. You call it fake, a charade… Do you mind telling me what kind of fuckin' charade ends up with somebody turning up dead?
ref: 1999, Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut (motion picture), spoken by Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise):
synonyms: farce
sham
glosses: A deception or pretense, originally an absurdly obvious one but now in general use.
examples: text: 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).
ref: 2009 May 5, Emily Cox, Henry Rathvon, The Atlantic Cryptic Crosswords, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 5:
text: Takes is a bit of a charade indicator here, telling you that one word takes on or adds on to another.
ref: 2012 October 15, Denise Sutherland, Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 37:
text: Try solving the following clues. They are all charades, some of which use link words of the types described above.
ref: 2020 August 20, Telegraph Media Group Ltd, The Telegraph: How To Solve a Cryptic Crossword: Mastering cryptic crosswords made easy, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 9:
qualifier: crosswording
glosses: A form of wordplay where several words are placed together to form a new word or part thereof.