Meanings
nounChinese whispers (uncountable)
- UKuncountablegamesA game for several players in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred, to humorous effect by the time it reaches the last person and is compared with the original phrase.
This is no doubt the reason why children play Chinese Whispers. One child whispers a message to another and it travels around the circle of children, only to be revealed by the last member of the chain.
2014, Darian Leader, Introducing Lacan: A Graphic Guide, Icon Books Ltd, →ISBN1 more example
Some members made it clear that they were not going to participate at all, because it was the last Bullring, and brought in books to read or played games like ‘Chinese Whispers’, totally ignoring any remarks that were made.
1965, A. J. Grainger, “The Bullring”, in The New Era in Home and School, volume 46, London: New Education Fellowship, page 216Synonyms: a whisper down the lane, broken telephone, operator, pass it down, Russian scandal, telephone, telephone game
- figurativelyuncountableA situation where something is changed or misunderstood as a result of passing through successive people or processes.
The UN would rather not be associated with blowing mosques to smithereens in a part of the world where propaganda is everywhere, and information spreads like Chinese whispers.
1999, Tom Owen, “Israel in South Lebanon”, in The Jewish Quarterly, volume 43, number Spring 1999, London: Jewish Literary Trust, page 151 more example
Rightly famed for their year 2000 project, RMX//A Visual Remix Project, for which they remixed each others' work in a Chinese Whispers-style process, they have also printed T-shirts with their eye-catching graphics […]
2004, Helen Walters, 200% Cotton: New T-Shirt Graphics, page 141Synonyms: telephone
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA game for several players in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred, to humorous effect by the time it reaches the last person and is compared with the original phrase.
nounA situation where something is changed or misunderstood as a result of passing through successive people or processes.
Similar
Translations
Afrikaans telefoontjie
- telefoontjiegame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Arabic هَاتِف عَرَبِيّ, هَاتِف لَاسِلْكِيّ
- هَاتِف عَرَبِيّ (hātif ʕarabiyy)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- هَاتِف لَاسِلْكِيّ (hātif lāsilkiyy)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Bulgarian развален телефон
- развален телефон (razvalen telefon)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Catalan telèfon
- telèfongame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Chinese Cantonese 以訛傳訛 /以讹传讹
- 以訛傳訛 /以讹传讹 (ji⁵ ngo⁵ cyun⁴ ngo⁴)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Chinese Mandarin 傳話遊戲 /传话游戏
- 傳話遊戲 /传话游戏 (chuánhuà yóuxì)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Czech tichá pošta, telefon
- tichá poštagame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- telefongame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Dutch doorfluistertje
- doorfluistertjegame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Finnish rikkinäinen puhelin, juoruämmä
- rikkinäinen puhelingame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- juoruämmägame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
French téléphone arabe
- téléphone arabegame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
German Stille Post, Flüsterpost
- Stille Postgame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- Flüsterpostgame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Greek χαλασμένο τηλέφωνο
- χαλασμένο τηλέφωνο (chalasméno tiléfono)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Hebrew טֶלֶפוֹן שָׁבוּר
- טֶלֶפוֹן שָׁבוּר (télefon shavúr)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Hungarian kínai suttogás
- kínai suttogásgame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Icelandic hvísluleikur
- hvísluleikurgame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Irish cogarnach Shíneach
- cogarnach Shíneachgame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Italian telefono senza fili, telegrafo senza fili
- telefono senza filigame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- telegrafo senza filigame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Japanese 伝言ゲーム
- 伝言ゲーム (dengon gēmu)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Korean 옮겨 말하기
- 옮겨 말하기 (omgyeo malhagi)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Norwegian Bokmål hviskelek
- hviskelekgame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Polish głuchy telefon
- głuchy telefongame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Portuguese telefone sem fio, telefone estragado
- telefone sem fiogame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- telefone estragadogame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Romanian telefonul fără fir
- telefonul fără firgame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Russian испо́рченный телефо́н, сло́манный телефо́н
- испо́рченный телефо́н (ispórčennyj telefón)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- сло́манный телефо́н (slómannyj telefón)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- глухо́й телефо́н (gluxój telefón)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Slovak tichá pošta, telefón
- tichá poštagame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- telefóngame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Spanish teléfono descompuesto, teléfono estropeado
- teléfono descompuestogame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- teléfono estropeadogame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
- teléfonogame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Swedish viskleken
- visklekengame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Turkish kulaktan kulağa
- kulaktan kulağagame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Ukrainian зіпсо́ваний телефо́н
- зіпсо́ваний телефо́н (zipsóvanyj telefón)game in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Vietnamese tam sao thất bản
- tam sao thất bảngame in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred
Cite this entry
APA
Chinese whispers. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chinese%20whispers
MLA
“Chinese whispers.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chinese%20whispers. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Chinese whispers,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chinese%20whispers.
Source: Chinese whispers on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.