Words that always work
The difference between a flat round and a legendary one is almost never the actor: it is the word. A good charades word can be performed: it has clear gestures, shapes, or movements. Here are 50+ that never fail, sorted from easy warm-ups to laugh-until-you-cry challenges.
Easy: warm-ups (and kid-friendly)
Actions and animals with an obvious gesture. Perfect for the first rounds or when kids are playing:
Dog · Cat · Monkey · Penguin · Elephant · Sleeping · Eating spaghetti · Driving · Swimming · Brushing your teeth · Soccer · Playing guitar · Ghost · Rain · Baby
Medium: where the game gets good
One gesture is not enough anymore: you have to build a little scene. The sweet spot for groups that have played before:
Astronaut · Hairdresser · Roller coaster · Selfie · Karaoke · Sleepwalker · Barbecue · Referee · Traffic jam · Juggler · Hangover · First day at the gym · Moving house · Blind date · Missing the bus
Hard: for veteran groups
Concepts with no gesture of their own: they force you to break the word apart and use the syllable signals:
Wifi · Monday · Secondhand embarrassment · Déjà vu · Self-tanner · Influencer · Airplane mode · Spoiler · Nostalgia · Antivirus · Echo · Gravity · Insomnia · Mother-in-law · Procrastination
Impossible (but try anyway)
Nobody gets these on the first try, which is exactly why they become the story of the night:
The meaning of life · The internet · Next week · Awkward silence · Irony · Inheritance tax · A random Monday · Faith
The real trick: your own list
The best words are not on any public list: they are your group's inside jokes. In this Charades you can create your own theme right inside the game, one word per line, and play with it. Your friend's nickname, that trip that went wrong, the dish somebody burned: no deck beats that.
How to pick for your group
With kids, stick to easy words plus a few medium ones. Mixed group: mediums with a couple of hard ones sneaked in. Mime veterans: go straight to hard, one impossible per round as a challenge. And remember skipping costs nothing: better to pass than to watch someone suffer through 60 seconds of "irony".