sick joke

Save This Word!

An anecdote intended to be humorous but actually in very bad taste, as in His stories turn out to be sick jokes about people who are handicapped in some way. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON PARENTHESES AND BRACKETS APLENTY!

Set some time apart to test your bracket symbol knowledge, and see if you can keep your parentheses, squares, curlies, and angles all straight!

Question 1 of 7

Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?

First appeared around 1750, and is related to the French word “braguette” for the name of codpiece armor.

First appeared in 1610, based on the French word “baguette” for the long loaf of bread.

First appeared in 1555, and is related to the French word “raquette” for a netted bat.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby sick joke

Sickert, sick headache, sickie, sick in bed, sickish, sick joke, sickle, sick leave, sicklebill, sickle cell, sickle-cell anaemia

Example sentences from the Web for sick joke

Policemen on the show joke about prison riots, bomb threats, and the shooting of unarmed civilians.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And not just sick in the body but in your mind, because you start obsessing.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I was sick in street gutters, onto my desk, at dinners with friends.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A running joke inside the tribe is that the group is like that club with a hundred people waiting outside to get in.
‘We Out Here’: Inside the New Black Travel Movement|Charlise Ferguson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST

We are the sick ones who torment trans people every day of their lives.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism|Arthur Chu|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The Duchess had also a tent for their sick men; so that we had a small town of our own here, and every body employed.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
I suppose he is sick of the sound of them, or perhaps it is because he feels obliged to be conscientious in teaching Beethoven!
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
The patriarchal decree of the government was a good deal of a joke on the plains, anyway—except when you were caught defying it!
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
After the battle of the Pyramids he fell sick, and before the Syrian expedition, applied to return to France.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
Mr. Crow was rocking back and forth on his perch, for a joke—on anybody except himself—always delighted him.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY