practical joke

American  

noun

• practical jokes
  plural

1. a playful trick, often involving some physical agent or means, in which the victim is placed in an embarrassing or disadvantageous position.

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practical joke British  

noun

1. a prank or trick usually intended to make the victim appear foolish

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• practical joker
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• practical jokes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of practical joke

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

practical joke

The five Georgia teens whose teacher died during a fatal practical joke will not be prosecuted in the educator's death, the district attorney has said.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

It took decades, but the plate came to light for what it was — a prank played on a historian by his fellow historians, a practical joke that got way out of hand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025

The con job was, he thinks, “no more than a practical joke, really. Good clean sport.”

From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2024

Was it all some kind of practical joke?

From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2023

Put their tails down and slunk right out from under the best practical joke ever thought up by man or boy in Cold Sassy, Georgia.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Related Words

• prank