Charade means a pretense or act that's meant to deceive people. When someone puts on a charade, they're pretending something is real when they know it isn't. A student who acts interested in a topic just to impress the teacher is putting on a charade. A person who pretends to be friendly while secretly spreading rumors about you is engaging in a charade.

The word suggests something phony or fake that everyone might see through eventually. If a bully apologizes but clearly doesn't mean it, you might call it a charade. When politicians make promises they have no intention of keeping, their campaign becomes a charade. The word carries a sense of disappointment: charades feel hollow because they're all performance and no substance.

The word also refers to a popular party game where players act out words or phrases without speaking while others try to guess what they're portraying. In the game, you might flap your arms to indicate “bird” or pretend to swing a bat for “baseball.” This kind of charade is playful and fun, the opposite of the deceptive kind. In the game, everyone knows it's pretend. In real life, a charade tries to fool people into believing something false is true.