/ʃə'rɑ:d; [US] ʃə'reɪd; ʃə`red/ n
1 charades [sing v] game in which one team acts a series of little plays containing syllables of a word which the other team tries to guess 哑谜猜字游戏（一组进行若干短小的表演, 表示一字的各音节, 由另一组猜字）.
2 [C] scene in a game of charades 这种游戏的表演.
3 [C] (fig 比喻) absurd and obvious pretence 荒唐可笑又显而易见的伪装.

n
[Date: 1700-1800; Language: French;Origin:Provençal charrado 'conversation']
charades[U]
a game in which one person uses actions and no words to show the meaning of a word or phrase, and other people have to guess what it is
[C]
a situation in which people behave as though something is true or serious, when it is not really true
　Unless more money is given to schools, all this talk of improving education is just a charade.