Definition Wizards
The target word is forbidden. Students describe it without using the obvious clues — the class guesses, and tricky vocabulary sticks.
Open App →Teams at the Teacher's Desk
- 1Split the class into two or more teams (the app supports 2–4) seated in their own area of the room.
- 2The describer for the current turn sits at the teacher's desk with the word card visible only to them — project a blank screen behind them or use a private device.
- 3An opponent from a different team sits across from the describer as the checker — their job is to press 'Wrong' the instant a forbidden word is used, which costs the describer's team 5 points and sends the game straight to the next word.
- 4Turn length is whatever is set on the setup page (1, 1.5, or 2 minutes) — there's no fixed 10-second or 90-second rule.
The Teaching Logic Behind Definition Wizards
Definition Wizards is a circumlocution and paraphrasing game. The app generates a target word at the specified CEFR level along with 3 or 4 forbidden words — the semantically adjacent words that students would naturally use to describe the target. Students must describe the target word to their team without using any of the forbidden words.
The forbidden word selection is the key design challenge. They are the most natural descriptors: if the target is 'procrastinate', the forbidden words might be 'delay', 'avoid', 'later', and 'task'. These are not random — they are the words that would make the description trivially easy. Removing them forces genuinely creative circumlocution.
Difficulty scales with CEFR level not just through word complexity but through forbidden-word count: A2 and B1 cards have 3 forbidden words; B1+, B2, and C1 cards have 4. This means higher-level students face both harder target words and tighter circumlocution constraints.
Why It Works
Circumlocution is a teachable L2 survival skill
Tarone (1977) identifies circumlocution — describing the concept without the word — as a primary communication strategy deployed by L2 learners when lexical knowledge fails. Definition Wizards makes this strategy explicit and trainable, rather than leaving students to discover it accidentally in real conversations when vocabulary fails them.
Semantic network activation deepens word knowledge
When students try to describe a word without using its nearest synonyms, they activate the entire semantic network around that word — hypernyms, hyponyms, collocates, function descriptions. This depth of semantic activation is precisely what distinguishes a word that is 'known' from one that is merely 'recognised'.
Successful circumlocution triggers noticing of the target form
Schmidt (1990) argues that learners cannot acquire a form they have not noticed. When a student successfully gets the class to guess a target word through circumlocution, the moment of recognition — 'Yes! That's the word!' — focuses intense attention on the word form itself. This attentional spotlight is the ideal condition for form encoding.
Step-by-Step in Class
Choose level, topic, and turn settings
Select a CEFR level (A2–C1, including B1+), a topic domain, the number of teams (2–4), and the time per turn on the setup page. The app deduplicates against session history so each round produces a fresh target word.
Seat the describer and the checker
The describer for the turn sits at the teacher's desk and sees the target word and all forbidden words. An opponent from another team sits across from them as checker. The describer should quickly plan an approach — category, function, or example — before the clock starts.
Describe without forbidden words
The describer speaks until the turn timer runs out. If the checker calls a forbidden word, the team takes a 5-point penalty and play moves straight on to the next word — there's no resuming the same card.
Debrief at the end of the session
Save the discussion for the end of the session rather than after every word: ask describers across the session what approaches they used (category, function, example, negation: 'it's NOT...'). Building a toolkit of circumlocution strategies is the metalinguistic payoff of the whole game, not each round.
How to Set It Up for Different Levels
Generates concrete, image-able target words (umbrella, market, weekend) with 3 forbidden words drawn from the most obvious descriptors. Students describe using category, colour, size, and function.
A2 students have enough vocabulary to describe concrete objects through category and function. Removing the obvious synonyms forces them to use the longer-form descriptions they rarely attempt in free conversation.
Generates abstract nouns and common collocations (commitment, opportunity, failure) with 3 forbidden words. Students must describe the concept using examples, consequences, and contrasts.
Abstract nouns are harder to describe than concrete ones because they cannot be pointed at — students must reason about categories and consequences, exactly the kind of extended output that builds B1 discourse competence.
Generates nuanced, specialised words (idiomatic, reticent, pragmatic) with 4 forbidden words. Circumlocution at this level requires distinguishing the target word from near-synonyms through precise semantic reasoning.
C1 learners who can define a word correctly from a dictionary often cannot explain what makes it different from its nearest neighbour. Four forbidden words at this level specifically target those near-synonyms, forcing the kind of semantic precision that marks C1 proficiency.
Ways to Extend the Game
Written Definitions Round
Instead of speaking, students write a definition of the target word in 20 words or fewer without using any forbidden words. Exchange definitions with a partner who tries to guess the word. Combines circumlocution with the precision of writing.
Synonym Chain
After the correct word is guessed, the class generates as many synonyms and near-synonyms as they can in 30 seconds. The teacher records them — this reverse activity builds the semantic network that makes future circumlocution easier.
Forbidden Word Analysis
At the end of the session, ask: 'Why were those particular words forbidden?' Students analyse the semantic relationship between the target and each forbidden word — hypernym, synonym, typical collocate. Builds systematic vocabulary knowledge.
Pair It With
Word Jackpot
Word Jackpot tests vocabulary from the receptive direction — matching a given definition to a word — while Definition Wizards requires productive circumlocution. Run Jackpot first, then Wizards on the same vocabulary set for full productive consolidation.
Phrasal Quest
Use Definition Wizards on phrasal verbs encountered in Phrasal Quest — after students have met a verb in narrative context, testing whether they can circumlocute around it without using the particles is a powerful depth-of-knowledge check.
Sentence Lab
Sentence Lab provides productive consolidation after Definition Wizards — once students have demonstrated semantic understanding through circumlocution, using the word in a constructed sentence proves they can deploy it syntactically too.