charade

Meanings

1. 1
   noun 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. 2
   noun A single round of the game charades, an acted form of the earlier riddles.
3. 3
   noun A play resembling the game charades, particularly due to poor acting.
4. 4
   noun A deception or pretense, originally an absurdly obvious one but now in general use.
5. 5
   verb To act out a charade (of); to gesture; to pretend.