upheads

1,600+ charades words and ideas, sorted by category

Every word list in upheads, free to read, copy or play. 1,600+ words across 30 categories — easy ones for kids, tricky ones for adults, plus actions to act out. Pick a list below, or hit play and let the game deal the words for you.

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No app, no download, no sign-up — it runs in your browser on any phone.

How to use these lists

There are two ways to play. The old-fashioned way: print or copy a list, cut the words into slips, drop them in a bowl and take turns. The quick way: tap play — upheads deals the words on your phone, times the round and keeps score, and no word repeats in the same session, so nobody gets a word someone else already had.

Whichever way you go, the rules are the same. One person is the guesser and must not see the word. Everybody else acts it out, describes it or gives clues — without saying the word itself or anything that rhymes with it. Keep rounds to 60 seconds; short rounds keep the energy high.

What makes a good charades word

Three things: it has to be actable (there is something to mime), guessable (at least a couple of people in the room know it) and quick (if it needs a paragraph of explanation, it kills the pace). Names of people work well because you can mime what they are famous for. Abstract nouns are the hardest — great for a challenge round, painful for the warm-up.

Pick a category

🐾 Animals105 🎬 Film & TV64 ⭐ Celebrities63 😂 Memes & Viral60 🎤 Pop Hits48 😎 Slang59 🍔 Food100 💼 Jobs60 ⚽ Sports59 🏀 NBA Players52 🏈 NFL Players46 ⚾ MLB Players42 🏒 NHL Players38 🏟️ US Sports Moments52 🏷️ Brands58 🌍 Places57 🎭 Act It Out100 🎵 Songs52 🦸 Superheroes52 📺 Cartoons52 🎮 Video Games54 😀 Emotions52 🧸 For Kids53 🏛️ Historical Figures49 🎸 Instruments48 🚗 Cars50 💬 Idioms & Sayings40 🌀 Abstract Concepts45 🔬 Science & Inventions45 🖋️ Writers & Artists40

🐾 Animals

105 words · play this deck →

The deck we would hand to a group that has never played before. Almost every entry can be mimed — you have a sound, a walk or a shape to work with — and nobody needs to have watched the right film or grown up in the right country. It is also the easiest list to play with children, who tend to be better at animals than the adults are.

🎬 Film & TV

64 words · play this deck →

Films and series, from the ones everybody has seen to the ones everybody pretends to have seen. Titles work well because you can act out a scene, hum the theme or describe the poster. A group that watches nothing in common will find this harder than it looks, so check the room first.

⭐ Celebrities

63 words · play this deck →

Famous people from film, music, sport and the internet, mixed Turkish and international. Best with a group that shares roughly the same cultural reference points — a room split across generations will stall on half of them. If you are playing the question version of the forehead game, this is the deck you want.

😂 Memes & Viral

60 words · play this deck →

Internet culture, split roughly between things that have been recognisable for a decade and things that arrived this year. We deliberately favour memes you can perform — planking, a facepalm, a dab — over ones you can only name, and we cut anything that only the most online person in the room would know.

🎤 Pop Hits

48 words · play this deck →

Modern chart hits, every entry listed as song and artist together. The artist matters as much as the title here: describing who sings it, what they look like or what else they released is usually easier than describing the song. Mixed Turkish and international, weighted towards the last few years.

😎 Slang

59 words · play this deck →

Modern slang, from the words that have been around for decades to the ones that arrived last year. Explaining slang without using it is genuinely hard, which makes this one of the funniest decks to watch. Nothing here is crude — it is playable in front of family, even if the teenagers will get more of it than anyone else.

🍔 Food

100 words · play this deck →

Food travels further than almost any other category, because everyone at the table has eaten. The trick when giving clues is to stop describing what it looks like and start describing when you eat it, who makes it and what it costs — that is usually what gets the guess. Mixed Turkish and international dishes, so a few will be unfamiliar to some groups; that is part of the fun.

💼 Jobs

60 words · play this deck →

Jobs, from the ones every child can name to a few that will take some thought. Everything here has a tool, a uniform or a gesture attached, which makes it one of the most mimeable decks in the game. Reliable with children and with groups that do not share a first language.

⚽ Sports

59 words · play this deck →

Sports and disciplines rather than athletes, so nobody needs to follow a league to play. Almost all of them have a distinctive movement, which makes miming the natural way to give the clue. A good deck for a group with mixed levels of interest in sport, because the actions are recognisable even if you have never watched a match.

🏀 NBA Players

52 words · play this deck →

Basketball players, past and present, from the all-time greats to the current stars. Written for an American audience; if half your group does not follow the NBA, expect long silences. Clue-givers usually get there faster by describing a team, an era or a signature move than by describing the person.

🏈 NFL Players

46 words · play this deck →

Quarterbacks, receivers, running backs and defensive legends across several decades of American football. Like the basketball deck, this rewards a room that actually watches the sport — it is a specialist deck, not a general one, and it works best as a change of pace rather than the whole evening.

⚾ MLB Players

42 words · play this deck →

Baseball players from the record-holders of a century ago to today's biggest contracts. Probably the most specialised deck in the game: a group of baseball fans will love it and everybody else will struggle, which is worth knowing before you pick it.

🏒 NHL Players

38 words · play this deck →

Hockey players, weighted towards the names that even casual fans know alongside the modern stars. Best kept for groups that follow the sport; if you are unsure, the sports moments deck covers hockey in a way everyone can play.

🏟️ US Sports Moments

52 words · play this deck →

Teams, trophies, plays and the small rituals that make up American sport — the tailgate, the kiss cam, the foam finger, the halftime show. Unlike the player decks, most of this is actable and needs no fandom at all, so it is the one to reach for when the room is mixed.

🏷️ Brands

58 words · play this deck →

Brands and products, which turn out to be surprisingly easy to act out: the logo, the jingle, the shop, the thing you do with it. It is also the deck that produces the most arguments about pronunciation. Mixed Turkish and international names.

🌍 Places

57 words · play this deck →

Landmarks, cities and natural wonders, mixed Turkish and international. Geography knowledge helps but is not essential — most entries have a shape or a silhouette you can draw in the air. A good deck for a group that travels, and a hard one for a group that does not.

🎭 Act It Out

100 words · play this deck →

Pure mime, no nouns. This is the deck for when the room has gone quiet and needs someone standing up: every entry is an action, so there is nothing to describe and no way to cheat by naming a related word. Works with any age and any language ability, which is why it is a favourite in classrooms.

🎵 Songs

52 words · play this deck →

Songs from several decades, including Turkish classics and folk songs alongside international standards. Humming is allowed and is usually the fastest route to a guess. If the group is younger, the pop hits deck will land better; this one rewards a room that knows the older material.

🦸 Superheroes

52 words · play this deck →

Comic-book heroes and villains, most of them with a costume, a power or a catchphrase you can act out without saying a word. It is one of the most reliable decks for a mixed-age group, because the films have reached almost everybody, and a nine-year-old will often out-guess their parents.

📺 Cartoons

52 words · play this deck →

Cartoon characters spanning about fifty years of television, which makes this one of the few decks where the grandparents have an advantage. Voices help enormously here: an impression will get a guess faster than a description of what the character looks like.

🎮 Video Games

54 words · play this deck →

Games from arcade cabinets to whatever is currently on every phone. Characters, mechanics and sound effects all work as clues, and the range of eras means an older player can usually contribute something. One of the strongest decks for teenagers.

😀 Emotions

52 words · play this deck →

Feelings and states of mind, acted out with a face and a posture and nothing else. Deceptively difficult: there are only so many ways to perform 'confused' before you start repeating yourself, which is exactly why it produces good rounds. Excellent for drama classes and for language practice.

🧸 For Kids

53 words · play this deck →

Short, familiar words chosen so that a five-year-old can both act them out and guess them: animals, toys, food, weather. Nothing needs reading, nothing needs explaining. Pair an adult with each child, use a thirty-second timer instead of sixty, and let the youngest player do the acting rather than the guessing.

🏛️ Historical Figures

49 words · play this deck →

Historical figures from Turkish and world history — rulers, scientists, artists, explorers. Harder than the celebrity deck because you cannot rely on what someone looks like, so clues tend to be about what they did and when. A good fit for classrooms and for groups who enjoy a challenge.

🎸 Instruments

48 words · play this deck →

Musical instruments, which are close to perfect for miming: every one of them has a posture and a movement, and most have a sound you can make. No musical training required to play, though a group of musicians will get through it very fast.

🚗 Cars

50 words · play this deck →

Car makes, models and a few types of vehicle. Badges, shapes and engine noises are the usual routes in. A deck that splits a room — people who care about cars will clear it quickly and everybody else will rely on the famous names — so it works best mixed into a longer session.

💬 Idioms & Sayings (hard)

40 words · play this deck →

Idioms and proverbs in both languages, kept as separate lists because they do not translate. This is the hardest deck in the game and the funniest to watch, because the only way through is to act out the literal image and hope somebody makes the leap. Not recommended as an opener.

🌀 Abstract Concepts (hard)

45 words · play this deck →

Abstract nouns — freedom, patience, irony, chaos. There is nothing to mime and nothing to point at, so clue-givers have to build the idea out of examples. Reserve it for a group that is already warmed up; as a first deck it will stall.

🔬 Science & Inventions (hard)

45 words · play this deck →

Scientific concepts and inventions, from gravity and DNA to the printing press. More approachable than the abstract deck because most entries have a concrete object or a demonstration attached. Popular with teachers, and a reliable way to get a science-minded player to enjoy a party game.

🖋️ Writers & Artists (hard)

40 words · play this deck →

Writers, composers, painters and philosophers, marked as a hard deck for good reason. It rewards a room that reads, and it is the deck to choose when a group of adults says the others were too easy. Clues usually work best by naming a famous work rather than describing the person.

Playing with a big group?

Split into teams. upheads has a built-in teams mode for 2–4 teams: it passes the turn from team to team, keeps a cumulative scoreboard and makes sure every team gets fresh words.

Frequently asked questions

How many charades words do I need for a game?

Around 30-40 words per round is plenty; a fast group gets through 15-25 in a 60-second round. If you are printing slips, 60 words will comfortably cover an evening for a group of six.

Are these charades words free to use?

Yes. Every list on this page is free to read, print or use at your own game night. You can also play them directly in the browser at upheadsgame.com without installing anything.

What are good charades words for adults?

Movies and TV, celebrities, songs, idioms and slang tend to land best with adults, because they carry shared cultural references. The idioms and abstract concepts lists are the hardest of the set.

What are good charades words for kids?

Stick to animals, cartoons, food and simple actions. The kids deck on this page uses short, familiar words that a five-year-old can act out and a room full of children will recognise.

Can I add my own words?

Yes. In the game there is a Your Words deck where you can type your own list, which is handy for inside jokes, classroom vocabulary or a themed party.

More game ideas

📖 All guides 🙋 Who am I? game 📜 How to play charades 👥 Games for two people 👥 Party games for large groups 🏡 Family game night games 🚗 Road trip games 🎓 Classroom games 🎯 Games like Heads Up

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