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joke

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

johk
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdʒoʊk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.

  2. An amusing story.

  3. figuratively

    A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.

  4. figuratively

    Something that is far easier or far less challenging than expected.

  5. figuratively

    The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one

verb

  1. intransitive

    To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.

Used this way, joke is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use joke

  • “I regarded his campaign for mayor as a joke.”noun
  • “He often jokes even when he appears serious.”verb
  • “He told a very funny joke.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

practical jokebad jokeprivate jokestanding jokegood jokebig jokegreat joke

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • jokernounInflected form

    A person who enjoys telling or playing jokes.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • in-jokenounCompound term

    A joke that is appreciated only by members of some particular group of people.

  • play a joke onverbCompound term

    Subject to a playful hoax or joke.

  • practical jokenounCompound term

    A prank or trick played on a person (especially one intended to make the victim appear foolish).

  • practical jokernounCompound term

    Someone who plays practical jokes on others.

  • sick jokenounCompound term

    A joke in bad taste.

  • take a jokeverbCompound term

    Listen to a joke at one's own expense.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: something said or done for amusement

jest

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.