How to Describe Words in Taboo

Each example below is a practice card with a word and five taboo words, in the style of the boxed game. The words are our own picks, chosen because they are everyday things.

On Taboo Party you only have to avoid the words on your board. Practising with extra taboo words makes the techniques stronger, so your clues hold up when a whole group is listening for slips.

Your first few words should tell guessers what kind of thing they are looking for. "It's an object", "it's a place" or "it's something you do" cuts the search down at once.

Then narrow it. Say where the thing is found, who uses it, or what it is made of. Each clue should remove a large group of wrong answers.

Notice that the clues never mention water at all. They describe the shape and the moment you would grab it, which is often enough.

A synonym is the fastest route when the taboo list misses one. Taboo lists usually catch the most common synonym, so reach for the second or third one instead.

Watch for word parts. Many groups treat a piece of a taboo word as a slip, so "bedroom" is risky when "bed" is taboo.

That last clue says "sleepovers", which contains "sleep". A strict group would call that a taboo, so a careful describer says "at a night-time party with friends" instead.

Sometimes the quickest path is the word's opposite. Guessers who hear "the opposite of" start listing antonyms straight away, and the right one is often their first try.

"Not quite" clues work the same way. "Like a jog, but slower" points to a walk, and guessers can reach it in two steps.

Common phrases, sayings and pairs are among the strongest clues in the game. Say the phrase with a gap and let your team finish it.

Pick phrases your whole team knows. A saying from your own family may work for your sister and fail for everyone else.

A memory you share with your guessers can beat any dictionary clue. "What we ate after the cricket match" or "the game we played all night last Diwali" can land in one second.

Use shared references only when every guesser on your team was there. Otherwise one person answers while the rest feel left out. Films, songs and well-known stories are safer because more people know them.

If your group allows it, mention a famous character linked to the word. For an umbrella, a flying nanny from a classic children's film is a clue most people recognise.

The boxed game bans "sounds like" and "rhymes with" clues, and many groups keep that rule. Others allow it, especially with younger players or language learners. Agree before the first turn.

Even where it is allowed, use "sounds like" as a last push rather than your opening clue. It gives guessers the sound but not the meaning, so they can get stuck on the wrong spelling.

On a video call, a quick mime can do what a sentence cannot. Groups that allow gestures often play faster, while groups that ban them keep the game about words.

Keep gestures inside the camera frame and hold them a beat longer than feels natural. Video calls can drop frames, so a fast wave may never reach your team.

Taboo Party gives you a board of ten words at once, each showing its difficulty and points. You can describe them in any order, which changes how you should spend your time.

• Scan the whole board in the first two seconds. Spot the words you can describe in one sentence.
• Clear two or three easy words first to get your team warmed up and listening to your voice.
• Six correct guesses in a turn add three bonus words, so early momentum pays off twice.
• Give a hard word about ten seconds. If nobody is close, move on and come back if time allows.
• There is no penalty for words you never reach, so leaving a word costs you nothing.
• Say which word you are switching to by its category, for example "new one, it's an animal", so guessers drop the old idea.

Read the live guesses as they appear. If your team typed "boat" and "ship" for a ferry, you know they are close and only need a small push.

When guesses dry up, the problem is usually your starting point rather than the word itself. Go back to the category and come in from a different side, such as what the thing is used for instead of what it looks like.

If guessers are circling a close word, tell them so and push in one direction. "Yes, close, but smaller" or "same idea, but in a kitchen" keeps them on track without giving the answer away.

If they have the right idea but the wrong form, steer the grammar. "Not the person, the thing they do" turns "baker" into "baking" in one step, and it works for plurals too.

• Saying another word from your board. Every board word is off limits, even one you have not reached yet.
• Long, careful sentences. Short bursts give guessers more chances to jump in.
• Repeating a clue that already failed. Change the angle instead.
• Explaining a word nobody knows. If the word is unfamiliar to you, move on.
• Moving on in silence after a correct guess. Say "next" so the whole team knows the old word is finished.