Words for charades
Charades works best with words that have a clear shape: a movement, a place, a job or an object people recognise. These lists come from Fib's party, circus, sport and everyday packs, which already favour things you can see, and they are grouped so you can raise the stakes round by round.
181 words
Rules in short
- Split into two teams and take turns sending one player to act.
- The actor draws a word and says nothing at all. Speaking or making sound effects is not allowed.
- Teammates call out guesses until time runs out. A minute and a half is a good default.
- Agreed gestures can help: holding up fingers for the number of syllables, pointing to an ear for sounds like.
- A correct guess scores a point for the team. Alternate teams and play to a set score.
Random word generator
Words by difficulty
Easy 94
- Acrobat
- Actor
- Arcade
- Arena
- Balloon
- Barbell
- Bat
- Boxing
- Bread
- Burger
- Cake
- Candles
- Candy
- Canteen
- Cheese
- Clown
- Coach
- Cobweb
- Compass
- Costume
- Curtain
- Cycling
- Drama
- Drum
- Fans
- Fire
- Fog
- Ghost
- Gift
- Hammock
- Hockey
- Juggler
- Karaoke
- Lantern
- Lights
- Lion
- Locker
- Makeup
- Map
- Mascot
- Mask
- Medal
- Mirror
- Monster
- Mummy
- Noodles
- Parade
- Pasta
- Penalty
- Picnic
- Pizza
- Play
- Popcorn
- Potion
- Prize
- Program
- Props
- Pumpkin
- Queue
- Referee
- Rice
- Ride
- Running
- Salad
- Sauna
- Scene
- Script
- Seats
- Set
- Show
- Skull
- Soup
- Spell
- Spider
- Squat
- Stadium
- Stage
- Stars
- Steak
- Sushi
- Sweat
- Tennis
- Tent
- Ticket
- Towel
- Trail
- Trainer
- Trapeze
- Trophy
- Vampire
- Whistle
- Witch
- Yogurt
- Zombie
Medium 81
- Applause
- Audience
- Backpack
- Balloons
- Basketball
- Bench press
- Birthday
- Black cat
- Broomstick
- Bug spray
- Bumper cars
- Campfire
- Cannon ball
- Carousel
- Cauldron
- Cemetery
- Confetti
- Costume party
- Cotton candy
- Director
- Dumbbell
- Easter eggs
- Ferris wheel
- Firewood
- Fireworks
- Fishing rod
- Flashlight
- Football
- French fries
- Fried chicken
- Full moon
- Funhouse
- Goalkeeper
- Graduation
- Halloween
- Haunted house
- Hot dog
- Ice cream
- Intermission
- Invitation
- Kettlebell
- Magician
- Marshmallow
- Membership
- Microphone
- Mosquito
- New Year
- Nightmare
- Omelette
- Orchestra
- Pancakes
- Party hat
- Performer
- Protein shake
- Ringmaster
- Sandwich
- Scarecrow
- Scoreboard
- Skeleton
- Sleeping bag
- Smoothie
- Snack stand
- Sneakers
- Souvenir
- Spin bike
- Spotlight
- Stopwatch
- Swimming
- Tent peg
- Tightrope
- Tombstone
- Trail mix
- Treadmill
- Turnstile
- Unicycle
- Volleyball
- Water bottle
- Werewolf
- Wrestling
- Wristband
- Yoga mat
Hard 6
- Chocolate cake
- Christmas tree
- Roller coaster
- Trick or treat
- Valentine's Day
- Wrapping paper
Raising the difficulty
Run the first round on easy words so that shy players join in. Switch to medium when everyone is loose, and use hard words, often phrases, only for a deciding round. A two-word entry can be acted one word at a time.
Questions
Can children play with these lists?
Yes. The easy list is mostly everyday objects and animals. Choose the level and the generator only draws from it.
How do I stop people peeking?
Draw on one phone, hide the card and hold the phone against your chest while you act.
Are the words the same in every language?
No. The lists are written separately in English, Russian and Ukrainian, so they are not translations of each other.
Same words, one liar
Pick any of these words for a round of Fib: everyone gets it, except the spy.