joe
noun
joe
1 American
[joh]
/ dʒoʊ /
noun
Informal.
Joe
2
American
[joh]
/ dʒoʊ /
noun
-
Joes
plural
-
(sometimes lowercase) fellow; guy.
the average Joe who works for a living.
-
Informal. a personification of a typical, often unprepossessing representative of an occupation, personality trait, state of being, etc., that is expressed, sometimes metonymically, as a mock surname.
Joe Lunchbucket working hard at some factory and paying his taxes year after year; political con artists relying on the gullibility of Joe Schmo.
-
a male given name, form of Joseph.
Joe
British
/ dʒəʊ /
noun
-
a man or fellow
-
a GI; soldier
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of joe
First recorded in 1840–50; of uncertain origin
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:
As much as I wanted to hop on a plane from New York City to try it, my editor and I settled on a shorter trek, to New Jersey, to start with its sloppy joe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
One roaster’s ride on the roller coaster of coffee pricing helps explain the many reasons consumers keep paying more for a cup of joe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
Fast-forward to now, I’ve refined my taste in coffee, ditching the unpleasant cups of joe for more palatable ones.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025
Sig’s baby was born 70 years ago this autumn, on Nov. 17, when he first demonstrated how it could alert any ordinary joe schmoe listening to the radio.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2024
“Keep your eyes peeled. You never know when one is going to fall. The only time you don’t see them is when you stop watching for them.” joe missed that, something terrible.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Though the hosts are heavy favourites to earn a 3-0 clean sweep, the carnage of the final session was an alarming spell as Joe Root begins his second spell as captain.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
By the time President Joe Biden pulled American forces out of Afghanistan, 20 years had passed.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
She then took aim at US leadership, as former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden looked on, along with current Vice President JD Vance.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
There’s no harm in that per se, but you’ll have to forgive my irritation with Sudeikis, Lawrence, Hunt and fellow executive producer and showrunner Joe Kelly’s clumsiness with the team’s most complicated working relationship.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026
It wasn’t exactly the same because it took a different form each time, but it was always about those I had left behind, especially Baby Joe.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
World Cup fans flock to In N Out, Erewhon and Trader Joes for a taste of Californian culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
And then we look at how regular Joes and Janes could invest in the assets the pros are avoiding using regular, low-cost exchange-traded funds.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 13, 2026
"They are a bunch of guys that never quit. You can call them the Average Joes but I say they are the Above Average Joes."
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2025
In some of Simpson’s later ads, average Janes and Joes cheered him on as he ran, yelling, “Go, O.J., Go!”
From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
“The rest, eh, Pip?” said Joe, looking at it with a slow, searching eye, “One, two, three. Why, here’s three Js, and three Os, and three J-O, Joes in it, Pip!”
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.
