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Synonyms

no joke

Idioms  

  1. Also, no laughing matter. A serious issue, as in Missing the last flight out was no joke, or This outbreak of flu is no laughing matter. The first term dates from about 1800, and the variant from the second half of the 1500s.

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.

It’s called the “Fitbit for farts,” and it’s no joke, writes Christopher Mims.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

Donald Trump has ridiculed Denmark's defence of Greenland as amounting to "two dogsleds", but the Sirius Dogsled Patrol is no joke: the elite navy unit works in extreme conditions where only the toughest survive.

From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026

This thing is no joke — and yes, the price reflects it.

From Salon • Nov. 20, 2025

The collective power of the powerful is no joke.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 22, 2025

But this was no joke, as Penelope well knew: It was the Widow Ashton’s fortune that the admiral craved.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

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.