dad joke
Americannoun
Usage
What is a dad joke? The term dad joke is used to refer to a joke that's intentionally corny—the kind of joke that dads are known to tell their kids (or any random person they encounter). In most cases, the punch lines of dad jokes involve a pun or some form of wordplay.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dad joke
First recorded in 1985–90
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.
With AI writing something as simple as a holiday greeting, we lose the charm in the occasional grammatical error, the typo and the silly dad joke.
From Salon • Jan. 8, 2025
His version of a dad joke meant, I think, to jauntily suggest that I wasn’t his?
From Slate • Sep. 22, 2024
And then there was the dad joke that landed him on ESPN.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 14, 2023
Not a bad dad joke by any measure.
From Washington Post • Sep. 20, 2022
“Worst dad joke ever,” David says, but he’s grinning.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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.
