jocose
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
See jovial.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of jocose
First recorded in 1665–75; from Latin jocōsus, equivalent to joc(us) “jest” + -ōsus adjective suffix; see joke, -ose 1
Explanation
Your friend Robert who always makes funny observations and light-hearted quips? He’s jocose, meaning he's good humored and jokes around a lot. Latin may not seem like a lot of laughs sometimes, but it is responsible for injecting a little humor into English words that have their origins in jocus, the Latin word meaning "joke" or "jest." Jocose, jocular, joke — they all come from jocus. Jocose first came into English in the seventeenth century as a way to describe something that’s characterized by a playful, merry humor.
Vocabulary lists containing jocose
Heart of Darkness
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Lee Surrenders to Grant (1865)
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Intermediate, List 12
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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.
They are bust-a-gut funny — risible, jocose, whimsical, piquant and droll.
From Washington Post • May 20, 2021
In every jocose remark and offhand revelation, O’Brien captures an enigma of our species: We continuously broadcast our true selves — our deepest desires, fears and convictions — to anybody willing to listen.
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2017
Well you might have to go somewhere else for those jocose jibes and that hit of hope because the Mill feels about as wild and witty as a Banksy this morning.
From The Guardian • Apr. 10, 2013
Her father was not, she insisted, “a joyous, jocose gentleman walking about the world with a plum pudding and bowl of punch.”
From Time • Oct. 19, 2011
“Well aged parent,” said Wemmick, shaking hands with him in a cordial and jocose way, “how am you?”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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.
