joke
//ˈd͡ʒəʊ̯k//
Forms
- Plural
- jokes
- present (v1)
- joke
- past (v2)
- joked
- past participle (v3)
- joked
- present participle
- joking
- 3rd person singular
- jokes
Definitions
1.An amusing story.
- Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.
2.Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.
3.A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.
- Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke.
- The president was a joke.
- The other wheel on the tender of the L.N.W.R. engines operated the tender brake, and this was always rather a joke. Sometimes it operated with good results and on other occasions it did not.
4.Something that is far easier or far less challenging than expected.
- The final exam was a joke.
1.To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously.
- I didn’t mean what I said, I was only joking.
2.To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with, play with.
- Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1867
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)).