Pictionary words for adults: easy, hard and funny things to draw

Good pictionary words for adults are things everyone knows that fit on a scrap of paper. They get funny the moment a grown adult has to draw them against the clock, with no letters allowed. The lists below are written out in full: easy words for the first round, medium and hard ones for later, funny pictionary ideas, words sorted by category and a set of Christmas words for December. Every word on them can be drawn, and none needs anyone to know a film, a song or a famous name.

An example: Florin had sixty seconds, a fat black marker and a slip that said "copycat." He stood at the big sheet of paper on the easel and drew a cat. It came out as a long lumpy oval with two triangles on top, two stick legs of different lengths and a tail that curled the wrong way. "Potato!" Leilani shouted from the sofa, both arms in the air. Felipe threw his arms up too. "A cloud! A pig in a hat!" Zainab sat at the end of the sofa with the little sand timer in her hand, laughing so hard she could barely hold it straight. Florin didn't argue. He drew a second cat next to the first, just as bad, and pointed from one to the other. "Twins!" Felipe yelled. Florin shook his head and pointed again, harder. With a few grains of sand left, Leilani got it.

How a round of pictionary works

You need paper or a big sheet taped to the wall, a marker, a bowl of folded slips and a timer. Split into two teams. One player takes a slip and draws it for their own team, with no letters, numbers or talking, while the team calls out guesses. A right guess before time runs out is a point, and then the other team takes a turn. Sixty seconds a turn works well, and a game for six people runs about half an hour.

Easy pictionary words to start with

Start with single things that take a few lines to draw. They warm up the people who say they can't draw, and they let the guessers learn how each friend draws.

• Mailbox
• Toaster
• Anchor
• Light bulb
• Teapot
• Hammer
• Sailboat
• Mushroom
• Windmill
• Volcano
• Paper plane
• Campfire

Medium pictionary words for the middle rounds

Once everyone has had a turn, move to words with two parts or a small scene. They take a few more strokes, and the guessers have to put the pieces together.

• A hammock between two trees
• Traffic light
• Ceiling fan
• Treehouse
• Parachute
• Ferris wheel
• Bunk bed
• Rocking chair
• Wheelbarrow
• A bird's nest with three eggs
• Lawn mower
• Scuba diver

Hard and difficult pictionary words

Hard pictionary words are the ones you can't draw as a thing. Nobody can draw silence, so the drawer has to draw a finger held to a pair of lips, or a clock alone in an empty room. Save these for late in the evening, or hand them to the team that's far ahead.

• Silence
• Overthinking
• The smell of fresh bread
• Static electricity
• A first impression
• Beginner's luck
• A plot twist
• An inside joke
• Hindsight
• Small talk
• Deja vu
• A shortcut that takes longer

Funny pictionary words for adults

Funny and hilarious pictionary words put an everyday thing in the wrong place. Half the joke is the word, and the other half is watching a friend try to draw it with a straight face.

• A snail in a hurry
• A cactus asking for a hug
• A fish riding a bicycle
• A shark that's afraid of the water
• A pigeon with a suitcase
• A cow on a trampoline
• A whale in a bathtub
• A moose in a scarf
• A mouse carrying a wheel of cheese
• A bird that's afraid of heights
• A sock that lost its partner
• A cloud that follows one person around

Some of these are just as funny acted out, and charades ideas for adults has slips to mime when the marker runs dry.

Pictionary topics: words by category

Play one category per round, or mix them all in one bowl. Categories also help when you're writing slips in a hurry and your mind goes blank.

Things around the house to draw

• Coat hanger
• Alarm clock
• Bookshelf
• Doorknob
• Ironing board
• Curtains
• Rolling pin
• Hairdryer
• Watering can
• Doormat

Animals to draw

• Hedgehog
• Camel
• Swan
• Jellyfish
• Walrus
• Ostrich
• Beaver
• Woodpecker
• Zebra
• Elephant

Food to draw

• A slice of pizza
• Pretzel
• Watermelon
• A stack of pancakes
• Taco
• Sushi
• Doughnut
• Fried egg
• Croissant
• Peas in a pod

Places in town to draw

Keep these to places any town has, with no real names, so nobody needs to know a city to guess.

• Bakery
• Train station
• A fountain in a square
• Clock tower
• Roundabout
• Crosswalk
• Bowling alley
• Museum
• Food truck
• Gas station

Actions to draw

Actions are harder than objects, because the drawer has to show a person in the middle of doing something.

• Spinning a hula hoop
• Knitting
• Planting a tree
• Diving off a board
• Walking a tightrope
• Rowing a boat
• Climbing a mountain
• Surfing
• Painting a fence
• Blowing bubbles

Feelings and ideas to draw

These sit between the easy and the hard lists. A face does most of the work, and a small clue next to it does the rest.

• Surprised
• Grumpy
• Brave
• Confused
• Curious
• Calm
• Homesick
• A secret
• Good news
• Friendship

If someone finds paper and a pen and nothing else, that's enough, and games to play with no equipment has more for when you can't find either.

In November, Thanksgiving games for adults runs pictionary as a relay on the back of a paper tablecloth, with prompts the table writes from its own dinner.

When the paper and pencils are already on the table, Scattergories lists has a game where everyone writes instead of draws.

Christmas pictionary words

Christmas pictionary works best with the cold and cozy things of the season, the ones anyone can draw in a few strokes. Put these in a bowl of their own for a December evening.

• A snow angel
• Mittens
• Earmuffs
• Candle
• Gingerbread house
• A stocking by the fireplace
• A wreath on the front door
• Footprints in the snow
• Candy cane
• A knitted hat with a pom-pom
• A mug of cocoa with marshmallows
• A log cabin in the snow

For the rest of the night, try Christmas party games for adults, with ideas for a big room and a small one.

Who draws the word and who draws the idea behind it

Hand two friends the same slip and you can get two very different pictures. Say the slip reads "light bulb." One friend draws a light bulb: the round glass, the screw base, a few short lines for the light. The other draws a person with a bulb over their head who just had a great idea. Both pictures can win the point. Some people draw what the card says, as exactly as a marker allows, and some draw what the word means to them. Eight of the 16 types show the two sides clearly:

• Harmonizer draws the card as it is and adds the small, cozy details, like steam rising from the teapot.
• Inspector draws exactly what the slip says, with neat lines and the right number of stripes on the zebra.
• Commander draws big and fast, the plain object in a few hard strokes, then taps the marker on the part the team should look at.
• Diplomat watches the guessers' faces and changes the drawing halfway, from the thing itself to whatever makes them shout.
• Entrepreneur skips the details and draws the shortest road to the guess, like one arrow and one clock.
• Guardian draws the word plainly and keeps the scoring fair for both teams.
• Counselor draws the feeling behind the word, so "homesick" becomes one small figure looking at a house far away.
• Encourager turns one word into a whole little story, and the guessers see three scenes before they reach the word.

The theory behind the types treats these as leanings, and plenty of people draw both ways in a single evening. Nothing here is advice about the friends you play with. A bowl that holds easy objects and hard ideas gives both kinds of drawer a round they're good at.

Learn why your friend draws the way they do

Typeza shows the relationship type you share with a friend, and why one of you draws the card while the other draws what it means. Start on the free friendship compatibility test, and once you have a type, send your link to the friend who guessed your worst cat.

Questions people ask

What are good pictionary words for adults?

Things everyone knows but few people can draw well, like a toaster, a hammock between two trees, a walrus or a cow on a trampoline. Mix easy objects with a few hard ideas, so each round has something for a new player and something for the best drawer at the table.

What are some hard pictionary words?

Words for things you can't hold or see are the hardest, like silence, overthinking, hindsight, small talk or the smell of fresh bread.

What are funny pictionary ideas?

Put an everyday thing in the wrong place: a snail in a hurry, a shark afraid of the water, a whale in a bathtub or a pigeon with a suitcase.

What are good Christmas pictionary words?

Mittens, earmuffs, a snow angel, a candle, a gingerbread house and a mug of cocoa with marshmallows are all easy to draw and easy to guess.

What do you need to play pictionary at home?

Paper, a marker or pen for each team, a bowl of folded slips and a timer. A big sheet taped to a wall or set on an easel lets the whole room see the drawing.

Written by Virko Kask, founder of Typeza
Written with the help of AI tools.