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 Wombat Protection Society said it was shocked to see the "mishandling of a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for 'social media likes'".
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 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
In the pouch, the joey attaches to its mother in order to nurse and continues developing for the next six months, the zoo said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
Guests can view the joey at the zoo’s Australia habitat as he begins to explore, nibble on eucalyptus leaves and rest on his mother’s lap.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
You grudged a joey to a bloke to write for you.
From A Perilous Secret by Charles Reade
“We kind of felt us and the Sex Pistols would become almost like The Beatles and the Stones; we were the new revolution,” Joey said.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Joey Puricelli, a 40-year-old teacher in the Midwest, sees Infinity Vision differently.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Bozeman Mayor Joey Morrison, who was elected at 28 on a platform focused on affordable housing, says the rapid change has created a sharp divide between locals and people from out of state.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Michigan, or the titanic struggle of Joey Chestnut vs. a hot dog, the distinction of greatest rivalry in sports belongs to a showdown that isn’t such a regular fixture on the calendar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
It is a painful way to exist in the world, but Joey rarely complains.
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
It turns out that Joeys a pretty terrible soccer player.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
Both male and female koalas can contract the disease, which is a different strain to the one found in humans, while joeys can catch it through feeding in their mother's pouch.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025
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
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
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
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.
