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:
"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
Visitors to the Los Angeles Zoo can feast their eyes on one of its newest, cutest babies — a yet-to-be-named koala joey.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
Since then, the joey has been developing and growing inside Maya’s pouch, the zoo said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
"Done for another joey," replied Buster, with the premature acuteness of youth foraging for itself in the streets of London.
From M. or N. "Similia similibus curantur." by Whyte-Melville, G.J.
Joey, a 23-year-old barista and would-be poet, is too sweet and inexperienced to grasp that Chuck is using her as a rebound girlfriend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
New York City hosted its annual hot dog-eating contest, a tradition since 1972, where Joey Chestnut won his 18th title in the contest.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Joey remembers falling asleep to the sounds of league bowling when she was a little kid in Eastern Michigan.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
Charniak said she is currently living on Social Security and her late husband’s small pension, having spent much of their savings on court battles and raising Joey.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
At the time Joey contracts the disease, TB is a priority for public health leaders in the Philippines.
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
"There's generations of koalas now that have come through. We've got grand joeys," Dr Payne says excitedly.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2024
Even as joeys, he found, individual kangaroos seemed to have distinct personalities.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 25, 2024
Almost 20 years ago, after he saw a video of joeys being killed, English soccer star David Beckham stopped wearing Adidas boots that used kangaroo leather.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2023
Also, koala joeys prepare to leave their mothers for the very first time in this new episode of the documentary series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2022
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 Pritchett, R. T. (Robert Taylor)
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.
