joey
noun
any young animal, especially a kangaroo.
joey
1 American
[joh-ee]
/ ˈdʒoʊ i /
noun
Australian.
-
joeys
plural
-
any young animal, especially a kangaroo.
-
a young child.
joey
2
American
[joh-ee]
/ ˈdʒoʊ i /
noun
British Slang.
-
joeys
plural
-
a threepenny piece.
-
(formerly) a fourpenny piece.
Joey
3
American
[joh-ee]
/ ˈdʒoʊ i /
noun
-
Joeys
plural
Joey
4
American
[joh-ee]
/ ˈdʒoʊ i /
noun
joey
British
/ ˈdʒəʊɪ /
noun
-
a young kangaroo or possum
-
a young animal or child
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of joey1
First recorded in 1830–40; origin uncertain
Origin of joey2
First recorded in 1860–65; named after Joseph Hume (1777–1855), English politician who favored the coinage of the fourpenny piece
Origin of Joey3
1895–1900; diminutive of Joseph, after Joseph Grimaldi
Explanation
A baby kangaroo, koala, and opossum are all known as a joey. Nearly all marsupial mothers carry their joeys in a handy pouch on the front of their bodies. The most well-known joeys are probably tiny kangaroos, but the term applies to all newborn marsupials. Tasmanian devils, wallabies, and wombats fall into this category, and they also tote their joeys around in pouches or pouch-like folds in their abdomens. Etymologists know this word joey first appeared in the early 19th century, but its origin remains a mystery.
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:
A camera trap in Tasmania originally set to photograph quolls captured a possum mother and joey passing nightly to forage.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
"The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey," the statement says.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025
Edwardsville law enforcement and animal control from nearby Bonner Springs responded to calls about the unusual highway sight of a joey, which some mistook for a wallaby.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
Born after about 35 days, a joey uses its sense of smell and strong front legs with claws to climb up its mother’s fur into her downward-facing pouch.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
He can’t do any stunts, or joey work on crutches, can he?
From The Corner House Girls' Odd Find Where they made it, and What the Strange Discovery led to by Grace Brooks Hill
But the court order did not prohibit a sale or termination of the trust, lawyers for Janie and Joey argue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
So there’s a snapshot from my days at the Mud Club, a snapshot from my time with Joey Ramone, a snapshot with Richard Hell, a snapshot of Patti Smith.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
The core band here is one that has played with Beck for years—Jason Falkner and Smokey Hormel on electric guitar, Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. on keyboards and Joey Waronker on drums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The "cast is what drives these movies' success, and Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Maisie Williams and Joey King are strong."
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
When February 1954 comes around, Joey calls it the “month of promise.”
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It was a far cry from the uninspired videos peddled to adolescent girls, a battery of spinning, polished Jordans and Joeys that had long left me confused and a little repulsed.
From New York Times ● Sep. 24, 2020
"Joeys are most active at night-time, so you have to turn your day into night," she says.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2013
You have your Joeys and you have your Frasiers.
From Time ● Jan. 26, 2012
They call out to each other, a parade of Johnnies and Kennys and Joeys and Ritchies and Debbies.
From Washington Post
He started to get on Joeys case, telling him to stop standing around doing nothing.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
Even as joeys, he found, individual kangaroos seemed to have distinct personalities.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 25, 2024
Marsupials give birth to embryonic or premature babies — called joeys — that are roughly the size of a jellybean, according to the zoo.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
Wildlife officer Lindy Thomas poses with koalas and their joeys produced by artificial insemination at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Gold Coast, October 30, 2006.
From Reuters ● Jan. 29, 2022
But conservationists hope that the joeys will grow into fearsome predators that can help restore the continent’s environmental balance and return it to something closer to its state before European contact.
From Washington Post ● May 27, 2021
The meat of the joeys, as the young ones are called, is by far the best, and tastes something like hare, though it is rather tough and stringy.
From The Last Voyage to India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam' by R. T. (Robert Taylor) Pritchett
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