joke

/dʒoʊk/

/dʒəʊk/

Other forms: jokes; joking; joked

A joke is a funny story or line that's meant to make people laugh. When you're good at telling jokes, you're the life of the party (and you're probably not telling knock-knock jokes).

Many jokes have a "punch line," the part that either makes your listeners guffaw or groan, depending on how funny it is. The rest of the joke leads up to this climax. Another kind of joke is the "practical" sort, a prank, gag, or trick you play on someone. In the 1660s the word was spelled joque and was considered slang. It comes from the Latin root iocus, "joke, sport, or pastime."

Definitions of joke

1. noun

   a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
   “he told a very funny joke”

   synonyms: gag, jape, jest, laugh

   types:

   belly laugh, howler, riot, scream, sidesplitter, thigh-slapper, wow

   a joke that seems extremely funny

   blue joke, blue story, dirty joke, dirty story

   an indelicate joke

   ethnic joke

   a joke at the expense of some ethnic group

   funny, funny remark, funny story, good story

   an account of an amusing incident (usually with a punch line)

   in-joke

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

   one-liner

   a very short joke or funny remark

   shaggy dog story

   a long rambling joke whose humor derives from its pointlessness

   sick joke

   a joke in bad taste

   sight gag, visual joke

   a joke whose effect is achieved by visual means rather than by speech (as in a movie)

   type of:

   humor, humour, wit, witticism, wittiness

   a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
2. noun

   activity characterized by good humor
   synonyms: jest, jocularity

   types:

   drollery, waggery

   a quaint and amusing jest

   leg-pull, leg-pulling

   as a joke: trying to make somebody believe something that is not true

   pleasantry

   an agreeable or amusing remark

   type of:

   diversion, recreation

   an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates
3. noun

   a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement
   synonyms: antic, caper, prank, put-on, trick

   types:

   dirty trick

   an unkind or aggressive trick

   practical joke

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

   April fool

   a practical joke or trick played on the first day of April

   hotfoot

   a practical joke that involves inserting a match surreptitiously between the sole and upper of the victim's shoe and then lighting it

   rag

   a boisterous practical joke (especially by college students)

   snipe hunt

   an elaborate practical joke in which the unsuspecting victim hunts a snipe and is typically left in the dark holding a bag and waiting for the snipe to run into it

   type of:

   diversion, recreation

   an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates
4. noun

   a triviality not to be taken seriously
   “I regarded his campaign for mayor as a joke”

   type of:

   pettiness, puniness, slightness, triviality

   the quality of being unimportant and petty or frivolous
5. verb

   tell a joke; speak humorously
   “He often jokes even when he appears serious”

   synonyms: jest

   types:

   gag, quip

   make jokes or quips

   fool, fool around, horse around

   indulge in horseplay

   pun

   make a play on words

   type of:

   communicate, intercommunicate

   transmit thoughts or feelings
6. verb

   act in a funny or teasing way
   synonyms: jest

   types:

   antic, clown, clown around

   act as or like a clown

   type of:

   act, behave, do

   behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself