joke
Americannoun
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jokes
plural
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something said or done to provoke laughter or cause amusement, as a witticism, a short and amusing anecdote, or a prankish act.
He tells very funny jokes. She played a joke on him.
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something that is amusing or ridiculous, especially because of being ludicrously inadequate or a sham; a thing, situation, or person laughed at rather than taken seriously; farce.
Their pretense of generosity is a joke. An officer with no ability to command is a joke.
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a matter that need not be taken very seriously; trifling matter.
The loss was no joke.
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something that does not present the expected challenge; something very easy.
The test was a joke for the whole class.
verb (used without object)
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jokes,
present (3rd person singular)
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joked,
past participle, past
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joking
present participle
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to speak or act in a playful or merry way.
He was always joking with us.
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to say something in fun or teasing rather than in earnest; be facetious.
He didn't really mean it, he was only joking.
verb (used with object)
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jokes,
present (3rd person singular)
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joked,
past participle, past
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joking
present participle
-
to subject to jokes; make fun of; tease.
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to obtain by joking.
The comedian joked coins from the audience.
noun
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a humorous anecdote
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something that is said or done for fun; prank
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a ridiculous or humorous circumstance
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a person or thing inspiring ridicule or amusement; butt
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a matter to be joked about or ignored
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seriously: said to recall a discussion to seriousness after there has been joking
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something very serious
verb
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(intr) to tell jokes
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(intr) to speak or act facetiously or in fun
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to make fun of (someone); tease; kid
Synonym Usage
Joke, jest refer to something said (or done) in sport, or to cause amusement. A joke is something said or done for the sake of exciting laughter; it may be raillery, a witty remark, or a prank or trick: to tell a joke. Jest, today a more formal word, nearly always refers to joking language and is more suggestive of scoffing or ridicule than is joke : to speak in jest.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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half-jokingadjective
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jokelessadjective
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unjokingadjective
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half-jokinglyadverb
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jokinglyadverb
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unjokinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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jokesimple
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jokessimple
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have jokedperfect
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has jokedperfect
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am jokingprogressive
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are jokingprogressive
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is jokingprogressive
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have been jokingperfect progressive
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has been jokingperfect progressive
Past
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jokedsimple
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had jokedperfect
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was jokingprogressive
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were jokingprogressive
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had been jokingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of joke
First recorded in 1660–70, joke is from the Latin word jocus “jest”
Explanation
A joke is a funny story or line that's meant to make people laugh. When you're good at telling jokes, you're the life of the party (and you're probably not telling knock-knock jokes). Many jokes have a "punch line," the part that either makes your listeners guffaw or groan, depending on how funny it is. The rest of the joke leads up to this climax. Another kind of joke is the "practical" sort, a prank, gag, or trick you play on someone. In the 1660s the word was spelled joque and was considered slang. It comes from the Latin root iocus, "joke, sport, or pastime."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Everything that he gives you in that situation, he's just a joke of a centre-back.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
In a phone interview while driving through Los Angeles, Hilton said: “Whether I’m in Humboldt or Del Norte or Siskiyou County, my joke is, when people say, ‘Where do you live?’
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
“I joke around with him, like, ‘Well, you didn’t take care of me in the marriage, but you’re taking care of me in the divorce,’” she quipped.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
People sometimes joke online about whether you grew up in an “appetizers and drinks” family or an “entrées and water” family.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Luc pulled me closer to him and I was still laughing, because this all still seemed like a joke, because what else could it be?
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
He played the role with honesty and accessibility, cracking jokes as a teen whose health condition was never mentioned in the series.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
They haven’t gotten to the hard part of their schedule and the Connor Stalions and binoculars jokes are already sounding tired.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
“If there’s anything tumultuous happening now . . . I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been paying attention,” she jokes, “just remember that historically, an enlightenment of epic proportions is probably not far off.”
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
After more than a decade of public feuding and false starts, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua exchanged pleasantries, traded jokes and even discussed going for a pint at a news conference in London.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Native kid makes impassioned pleas and cultural jokes.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
"I never jumped the turnstile either. Let the record state!" he joked.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Erling’s team joked that it might’ve been my fault because I asked twice about it during the interview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
"If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump," she joked.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
“Sebastian is so busy I’d be surprised if he even knew he has an XM channel,” comedian Nick Vatterott joked in his post.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
“I’m going to need a defibrillator,” I’d joked, because of course, I thought she was just teasing me.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
Michael Che returned to the execution controversy, joking that the Pentagon’s proposed livestream would mark the first public execution in the United States since “a couple of weeks ago,” drawing groans from the audience.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Rojas joked — or maybe he was not joking — that everyone expects the Dodgers to win every game by 10 runs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The paper's cartoon has also homed in on skyrocketing fuel costs, joking that staff at the pump "don't care what diesel cost when you started driving".
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
“I was joking around, but people here take it absolutely serious.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Probably my favorite thing, other than joking around with my team, was when an astrophysics grad student from the University of Central Florida came to speak.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
