joystick
Americannoun
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joysticks
plural
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Informal. the control stick of an airplane, tank, or other vehicle.
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Computers. a lever resembling this, used to control movement of a cursor or other graphic element for video games and computer graphics.
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any leverlike switch for controlling, manipulating, guiding, or the like.
noun
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informal the control stick of an aircraft or of any of various machines
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computing a lever by means of which the display on a screen may be controlled used esp for games, flight simulators, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of joystick
Explanation
A joystick is a handle-like device that you use to control your character in a video game. If you want your character to move left, you generally move the joystick to the left. Originally, a joystick was the control an airplane pilot uses to adjust the movements of the plane — by moving the joystick back and forth, the pilot adjusts the roll, and moving it up and down controls the pitch of the plane's nose. Joystick was aviators' slang for this lever, and the makers of the earliest video games, in the 1970s, adopted the word for their similarly-shaped control.
Vocabulary lists containing joystick
Flying High: Aviation Words
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Ready Player One
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Video Game Vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
"In this mission it would have likely been controlled remotely by a person with a joystick to make sure they got to the exact location of the crew," Clark said.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Claw machine lover Neiki Lee carefully lowers the metal jaws of a crane with a joystick into a pool of prizes, only to have the small toy slip from its clutches again and again.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
In Hover mode, the joystick provides fine-grained yaw control, allowing the BlackFly to execute its surreal pirouette.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
The craft’s joystick controller is practically instinctive to game-trained teenagers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
I gripped the joystick tighter, refusing to let this wreck my concentration.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Encord’s Hansen said that there are warehouses planned in Eastern Europe where large teams of operators will sit with joysticks, guiding robots across the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2025
The two joysticks accommodate righties or lefties, but you only use one to fly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
A glimpse of what appeared to be a new Mario Kart game was also shown, and the video hinted that rumours about magnetic controller attachments and upgraded joysticks were true.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2025
Additionally, a player can change the trigger sensitivity and response curves of the joysticks and D-pad.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 25, 2023
Two joysticks protruded from its control panel, one yellow and one blue.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
