in-joke
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of in-joke
First recorded in 1960–65
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.
And Plemons, suddenly the new kid in class again, outside the in-joke despite his second film with these two, declares, “That’s the end of the interview.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026
She even dropped his name into one episode as an in-joke.
From BBC ● May 25, 2025
It's an odd thing to say publicly, but it makes a bit more sense if it's an in-joke winking at a man who hates MLK.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2024
Perhaps that mall entrance was a little in-joke?
From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2023
We kept it going for years and years—it became a sort of in-joke, I suppose—and it all started from one particular lesson we had when we were pretty young.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
