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joke

SayJOHK/d͡ʒoʊk/UK/d͡ʒəʊk/

Pluraljokes

Verbjokes, joking, joked

7 meanings of joke

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  1. 1
    a bit of funnouncountable
    Something said or done in fun rather than in earnest, not intended to be taken seriously.

    She meant the comment as a joke, but it came out sounding harsh.

    Filling his office with balloons started as a joke between coworkers.

    UsageOften as a joke or just a joke. You play a joke on someone.

    Similarprank, jest, gag, lark

  2. 2
    story for laughsnouncountable
    An amusing story told to entertain or make people laugh.

    He opened his speech with a joke about airline food.

    The comedian's best jokes all involved her childhood in a small town.

    UsageYou tell a joke (not incorrect: say a joke), often a joke about something.

    Similargag, quip, wisecrack

    Note

    The storytelling sense was already in place in the early 1700s: John Gay's 1708 poem Wine pictures a witty joke moving the company's senses to pleasant laughter, much as a joke told at a dinner table does today.

  3. 3
    be playfulverbintransitive
    To say or do something for amusement rather than in earnest.

    The nurses joke with patients to put them at ease before surgery.

    Even at the somber reception, he joked quietly to lighten the mood.

    UsageCommon in I was only joking. You joke with people and joke about things.

    Similarbanter, jest, quip, kid

  4. 4
    laughably badnounfigurativelycountable
    A person or thing so laughably bad or inadequate as to deserve no respect; a sham.

    The so-called security system was a joke, defeated by a single guessed password.

    Critics dismissed the hearing as a joke, staged purely for the cameras.

    UsageUsually after be: the system was a joke. Context shows whether it means useless or very easy.

    Similarfarce, sham, travesty, mockery

    Note

    Here the laugh is aimed at failure. T. Lovatt Williams in 1943 calls a locomotive's tender brake "always rather a joke" because it worked only some of the time.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    easier than expectednounfigurativelycountable
    A task or challenge that proves much easier or less demanding than anticipated.

    Compared with last year's marathon course, this one was a joke.

    The interview turned out to be a joke; they asked only two questions and offered her the position.

    Similarbreeze, cinch, doddle, snap

  2. 6
    verbdatedtransitive
    To tease someone playfully; to make good-humored jokes at their expense.
    He made more than one visit to Oxbridge, where the young fellows were amused by entertaining the old gentleman, and gave parties and breakfasts and fêtes, partly to joke him and partly to do him honour.
    1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis

    UsageToday people say joke with someone or simply tease someone.

    Similartease, kid, rib, josh

    Note

    An older transitive pattern takes the person teased as a direct object: "to joke a comrade." Thackeray, writing in 1848–1850, has Oxbridge students giving parties for an old gentleman partly to joke him and partly to honor him.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • An older transitive construction takes the person teased as its direct object, illustrated by “to joke a comrade.” en.wiktionary.org
    • Thackeray wrote the relevant novel, The History of Pendennis, in installments during 1848–1850, its original publication period. en.wikipedia.org
    • Thackeray's narrator describes young men at Oxbridge entertaining an old gentleman partly to tease him and partly to honor him. gutenberg.org
  3. 7
    ironic twistnounfiguratively
    The amusing, ridiculous, or ironic aspect of a situation or matter.

    The real joke is that after all that arguing, both sides wanted the same thing.

    After weeks of finger-pointing, the joke was that nobody had ever mailed the invitations.

    UsageOften the joke is that or the joke was that, followed by a clause.

Practice

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Origin

From Latin iocus ("joke, jest, pastime"), which traces back through Proto-Italic *jokos ("word, saying," perhaps playful) to a Proto-Indo-European root *yek- ("to speak, utter"). It is related to French jeu, Italian gioco, and Spanish juego.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts