joke

See also: Joke

English

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”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian juca, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒəʊk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒoʊk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊk

Noun

joke (plural jokes)

1. An amusing story.
   • 1708, John Gay, Wine:

     Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.

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

   It was a joke!

   • 1733–1737, Alexander Pope, [Imitations of Horace], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley [et al.]:
3. (figuratively) The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one
4. (figuratively) A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.

   Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke.

   The president was a joke.

   • 1943 September and October, T. Lovatt Williams, “Some Reminiscences of the Footplate—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 272:

     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.

5. (figuratively) Something that is far easier or far less challenging than expected.

   The final exam was a joke.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:joke

Coordinate terms

• comedy
• limerick
• parody
• pun

 

Derived terms

terms derived from joke (noun)

• all jokes aside
• anti-joke
• bad joke
• blonde joke
• dad joke
• dial-a-joke
• dirty joke
• fourth wall joke
• green joke
• half joke
• in-joke
• inside joke
• Irish joke
• joke book
• jokeful
• joke Joyce
• jokeless
• joke shop
• jokesome
• joke theft
• joke thief
• jokey
• jokish
• Kerryman joke
• knock knock joke
• knock-knock joke
• light bulb joke
• make a joke of
• Newfie joke
• no joke
• one joke
• practical joke
• private joke
• running joke
• standing joke
• take a joke
• the joke is on someone
• the jokes write themselves
• there's a grain of truth in every joke

 

Related terms

• jocular

Collocations

Collocations

Adjectives often applied to "joke": old, bad, inside, poor, silly, funny, lame, hilarious, stupid, offensive.

Descendants

• → Danish: joke
• → French: joke
• → Persian: جوک
• → Japanese: ジョーク, → Japanese: 冗句
• → Welsh: jôc

Translations

amusing story

• Arabic: طُرْفَة f (ṭurfa), نُكْتَة f (nukta), نَادِرَة f (nādira), لَطِيفَة f (laṭīfa)

  Egyptian Arabic: نكتة f (nukta)

  Gulf Arabic: نكتة f (nikta)

  Hijazi Arabic: نُكْتة f (nukta)

  Moroccan Arabic: نكتة (nukta)

  South Levantine Arabic: نكتة (nukte)

• Armenian: անեկդոտ (hy) (anekdot), կատակ (hy) (katak)
• Azerbaijani: lətifə (az)
• Basque: txiste
• Belarusian: жарт m (žart), анекдо́т m (anjekdót), до́сціп m (dóscip)
• Bulgarian: шега́ (bg) f (šegá), анекдо́т (bg) m (anekdót), виц (bg) m (vic)
• Carpathian Rusyn: фіґель m (figelʹ), анекдо́т m (anekdót), смішо́к m (smišók)
• Catalan: acudit (ca) m
• Chechen: забар (zabar), бегаш (begaš)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 笑話／笑话 (siu³ waa^6-2)

  Hakka: 笑話／笑话 (seu-fa)

  Hokkien: 笑詼／笑诙 (zh-min-nan) (chhiò-khoe, chhiò-khe), 笑話／笑话 (zh-min-nan) (chhiò-ōe)

  Mandarin: 笑話／笑话 (zh) (xiàohua)

• Coptic: ⲥⲁϫⲓ ⲛ̀ⲥⲱⲃⲓ m (sači ǹsōbi)
• Czech: vtip (cs) m
• Danish: vittighed (da) c, vits c, joke c
• Dutch: mop (nl) m, grap (nl) f, grol (nl) f
• Esperanto: ŝerco, amuzaĵo
• Estonian: nali, anekdoot
• Faroese: skemtisøga f, krønika f
• Finnish: vitsi (fi), pila (fi), (dated) kasku (fi), (slang) läppä (fi)
• French: plaisanterie (fr) f, blague (fr) f, joke (fr) f
• Georgian: ხუმრობა (xumroba), ანეკდოტი (aneḳdoṭi)
• German: Witz (de) m
• Greek: ανέκδοτο (el) n (anékdoto)

  Ancient: σκῶμμα n (skômma), χλεύη f (khleúē)

• Guaraní: pukarã
• Hebrew: בְּדִיחָה (he) f (b'dikhá)
• Hindi: चुटकुला (hi) m (cuṭkulā), लतीफ़ा m (latīfā)
• Hungarian: vicc (hu)
• Icelandic: brandari (is) m
• Indonesian: candaan
• Italian: barzelletta (it) f, battuta (it) f, scherzo (it) m, celia (it) f
• Japanese: 冗談 (ja) (じょうだん, jōdan)
• Khmer: ហាសវត្ថុ (haasaʼvŏətthoʼ)
• Korean: 농담(弄談) (ko) (nongdam), 롱담(弄談) (ko) (rongdam) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نوکتە (nukte)

  Northern Kurdish: henek (ku)

• Kyrgyz: тамаша (ky) (tamaşa)
• Latin: iocus (la) m, nūgae f pl
• Latvian: joks (lv) m
• Macedonian: шега f (šega)
• Malay: jenaka, seloroh
• Malayalam: തമാശ (ml) (tamāśa)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: онигоо (mn) (onigoo)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vits (no) m

  Nynorsk: vits m

• Oromo: qoosaa
• Ottoman Turkish: شقا (şaka), اویون (oyun)
• Persian: لطیفه (fa) (latife), جوک (fa) (jok)
• Plautdietsch: Spos n
• Polish: dowcip (pl) m, kawał (pl), żart (pl)
• Portuguese: piada (pt) f
• Romani:

  Balkan Romani: pherǎs

• Romanian: banc (ro) n, glumă (ro) f, șagă (ro) f
• Russian: анекдо́т (ru) m (anekdót), шу́тка (ru) f (šútka)
• Scottish Gaelic: fealla-dhà m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ша́ла f

  Roman: šála (sh) f

• Slovak: vtip m
• Slovene: šala (sl) f
• Spanish: broma (es) f, chiste (es) m, chascarrillo (es)
• Swahili: kasheshe (sw)
• Swedish: rolig historia (sv) c, vits (sv) c, skämt (sv) n
• Tagalog: biro
• Tajik: аския (askiya), латифа (tg) (latifa)
• Thai: มุก (th) (múk)
• Tibetan: ཀྱལ (kyal)
• Turkish: fıkra (tr)
• Turkmen: degişme
• Ukrainian: жарт m (žart), до́теп (uk) m (dótep), анекдо́т (uk) m (anekdót)
• Urdu: لطیفہ m (latīfā)
• Uyghur: لەتىپە (letipe), شاڭخو (shangxo)
• Uzbek: latifa (uz)
• Vietnamese: chuyện tiếu lâm
• Waray-Waray: ti-aw
• Welsh: jôc (cy) f
• Yiddish: וויץ m (vits)

something said or done for amusement

• Albanian: shaka (sq) f
• Arabic: نُكْتَة f (nukta), هَزْل m (hazl)
• Armenian: կատակ (hy) (katak)
• Azerbaijani: zarafat (az)
• Basque: txantxa
• Belarusian: жарт m (žart)
• Bengali: প্রহসন (bn) (prohośon), রসিকতা (bn) (rośikota)
• Bulgarian: шега́ (bg) f (šegá)
• Burmese: အသော (my) (a.sau:)
• Catalan: broma (ca) f
• Chechen: бегаш (begaš), забар (zabar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 玩笑 (zh) (wánxiào)

• Coptic: ⲥⲁϫⲓ ⲛ̀ⲥⲱⲃⲓ m (sači ǹsōbi)
• Czech: vtip (cs) m, vtípek (cs) m, žert (cs) m, žertík m
• Danish: spøg (da) c
• Dutch: mop (nl) m, grap (nl) f, geintje (nl) n, lol (nl) f
• Esperanto: amuzaĵo
• Estonian: nali
• Faroese: skemt
• Finnish: pila (fi), kuje (fi), kepponen (fi), vitsi (fi), kasku (fi), sutkaus
• French: plaisanterie (fr) f, blague (fr) f
• Georgian: ხუმრობა (xumroba)
• German: Scherz (de) m, Streich (de) m, Witz (de) m, Spaß (de) m
• Greek: αστείο (el) n (asteío)

  Ancient: σκῶμμα n (skômma), χλεύη f (khleúē)

• Hebrew: בְּדִיחָה (he) f (b'dikhá)
• Hindi: मज़ाक़ m (mazāq)
• Hungarian: tréfa (hu)
• Icelandic: grín (is) n, spaug n
• Indonesian: lelucon (id), lawak (id)
• Interlingua: burla
• Irish: cleas m
• Italian: battuta (it) f, scherzo (it) m, celia (it) f
• Japanese: 冗談 (ja) (じょうだん, jōdan), ジョーク (ja) (jōku)
• Kabuverdianu: txakóta, txokóta
• Kazakh: әзіл (äzıl), қалжың (qaljyñ), ажуа (ajua), ойын (oiyn)
• Khmer: ពាក្យនិយាយលេង (piək niyiəy leing), ល្បែងលេងសើច (lbaeng leing saəc)
• Korean: 농담(弄談) (ko) (nongdam), 롱담(弄談) (ko) (rongdam) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گاڵتە (ckb) (gallte)

  Northern Kurdish: henek (ku), galte (ku)

• Kyrgyz: тамаша (ky) (tamaşa), азил (ky) (azil)
• Lao: ເລື່ອງຕະຫຼົກ (lư̄ang ta lok)
• Latin: iocus (la) m, facetia f
• Latvian: joks (lv) m
• Lithuanian: juõkas (lt) m, pókštas (lt) m
• Macedonian: шега f (šega)
• Malay: lawak (ms)
• Malayalam: തമാശ (ml) (tamāśa)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хошигнол (mn) (xošignol)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spøk (no) m

  Nynorsk: spøk m

• Ottoman Turkish: شقا (şaka), اویون (oyun)
• Pashto: ټوکه (ps) f (ṭoka), انک (ps) m (anák)
• Persian: شوخی (fa) (šuxi)
• Polish: dowcip (pl) m, żart (pl) m, kawał (pl) m
• Portuguese: brincadeira (pt) f
• Romani:

  Balkan Romani: pherǎs

• Romanian: glumă (ro)
• Russian: шу́тка (ru) f (šútka), остро́та (ru) f (ostróta)
• Sanskrit: विनोदकणिका f (vinodakaṇikā), उपहासगिर् (sa) f (upahāsagir), अभिहास (sa) m (abhihāsa)
• Scottish Gaelic: cleas m, fealla-dhà m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ша́ла f

  Roman: šála (sh) f

• Slovak: vtip m, žart m
• Slovene: šala (sl) f
• Spanish: broma (es) f, cuchufleta (es)
• Swahili: kasheshe (sw), mzaha (sw)
• Swedish: skämt (sv) n
• Tagalog: biro
• Tajik: шӯхӣ (šüxī), ҳазл (hazl)
• Thai: มุก (th) (múk), เรื่องตลก (rʉ̂ʉang-dtà-lòk)
• Tibetan: བསྟན་ཤིག་སློང (bstan shig slong)
• Turkish: şaka (tr)
• Turkmen: oýun
• Ukrainian: жарт m (žart)
• Urdu: مذاق m (mazāq)
• Uyghur: چاقچاق (chaqchaq), مايداڭ (maydang), ھەزىل (hezil)
• Uzbek: xazil (uz)
• Vietnamese: đùa (vi), lời nói đùa, câu nói đùa
• Volapük: cog (vo), (diminutive) cogil
• Yiddish: וויץ m (vits), שפּאַס m (shpas)

the root issue

• Azerbaijani: məzə
• Hungarian: vicc (hu)
• Polish: dowcip (pl) m

worthless thing or person

• Czech: šašek (cs) m, klaun m
• Dutch: grap (nl) f, aanfluiting (nl) f
• French: raté (fr) m, ratée (fr) f
• Georgian: დასაცინი (dasacini), სასაცილო (sasacilo), მასხარა (ka) (masxara)
• German: Witz (de) m
• Hungarian: vicc (hu)
• Icelandic: brandari (is) m
• Italian: burla (it) f
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گاڵتە (ckb) (gallte)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vits (no) m

• Persian: مسخره (fa) (masxare), (person) شوت (fa) (šut)
• Polish: żart (pl) m
• Portuguese: piada (pt) f
• Romani:

  Balkan Romani: devruś

• Romanian: glumă (ro)
• Russian: (person) кло́ун (ru) m (klóun), (person) шут (ru) m (šut), посме́шище (ru) n (posméšišče)
• Spanish: tomadura de pelo (es) f
• Swedish: skämt (sv) n
• Tagalog: gago (tl) (derogatory), gaguhan, panggagago

Verb

joke (third-person singular simple present jokes, present participle joking, simple past and past participle joked)

1. (intransitive) To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously.

   I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking.

2. (intransitive, followed by with) To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with, play with.

   Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.

3. (transitive, dated) To make merry with; to make jokes upon; to rally.

   to joke a comrade

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 21, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     He made more than one visit to Oxbridge, where the young fellows were amused by entertaining the old gentleman, and gave parties and breakfasts and fêtes, partly to joke him and partly to do him honour.

Derived terms

• joke around
• joking relationship

 

Related terms

• joker

Translations

do for amusement

• Afrikaans: grap
• Arabic: مَزَحَ (mazaḥa)

  Hijazi Arabic: مزح (mazaḥ), نَكَّت (nakkat)

• Armenian: կատակել (hy) (katakel), զվարճախոսել (hy) (zvarčaxosel)
• Azerbaijani: zarafat etmək
• Belarusian: жартава́ць impf (žartavácʹ)
• Bulgarian: шегувам се (šeguvam se)
• Burmese: ရွှတ် (my) (hrwat)
• Cherokee: ᎦᏪᏟᎭ (gawetliha)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 開玩笑／开玩笑 (zh) (kāi wánxiào)

• Czech: žertovat (cs)
• Danish: spøge
• Dutch: grappen (nl), grappenmaken
• Esperanto: ŝerci
• Estonian: naljatama
• Faroese: skemta
• Finnish: vitsailla (fi), pilailla (fi)
• French: plaisanter (fr), blaguer (fr)
• Georgian: ხუმრობა (xumroba), ოხუნჯობა (oxunǯoba), ლაზღანდარობა (lazɣandaroba)
• German: scherzen (de), Witze machen, Spaß machen, witzeln (de)
• Greek: ατειεύομαι (ateiévomai)

  Ancient: σκώπτω (skṓptō)

• Hebrew: התלוצץ (he) (hitlotséts), התבדח (hitbadéakh)
• Hungarian: tréfál (hu), viccel (hu)
• Icelandic: grínast, spauga (is)
• Italian: scherzare (it)
• Japanese: 冗談を言う (じょうだんをいう, jōdan o iu), 冷やかす (ja) (ひやかす, hiyakasu), 巫山戯る (ja) (ふざける, fuzakeru)
• Korean: 농담하다 (ko) (nongdamhada), 롱담하다 (rongdamhada) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گالتە کردن (galte kirdin)

• Kyrgyz: тамашалоо (ky) (tamaşaloo), калжың кылуу (ky) (kaljıŋ kıluu)
• Latin: iocor (la), ioculor (la)
• Latvian: jokot
• Neapolitan: pazzià
• Norwegian: tulle (no), tulle bort, kødde
• Old English: gamenian
• Polish: żartować (pl)
• Portuguese: gracejar (pt), contar piada, brincar (pt) m
• Romani:

  Balkan Romani: kerel pherǎs, asavel, marel pherǎs, marel muj

• Romanian: glumi (ro)
• Russian: шути́ть (ru) impf (šutítʹ), пошути́ть (ru) pf (pošutítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: шалити се impf

  Roman: šaliti se (sh) impf

• Sicilian: babbiàri
• Slovak: žartovať impf
• Spanish: bromear (es)
• Swedish: skämta (sv), skoja (sv)
• Tagalog: biro
• Turkish: şaka yapmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: жартува́ти (uk) impf (žartuváty)
• Vietnamese: nói đùa (vi)
• Volapük: cogön (vo)

See also

• jeer
• mock

Anagrams

• ojek

Danish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English joke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈd̥jɔwɡ̊]

Noun

joke c (singular definite joken, plural indefinite jokes)

1. joke

Declension

Declension of joke

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	joke	joken	jokes	jokesene (unofficial) jokene
genitive	jokes	jokens	jokes'	jokesenes (unofficial) jokenes

Synonyms

• spøg
• vits
• vittighed

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English joke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈd̥jɔwɡ̊ə], (imperative) IPA^(key): [ˈd̥jɔwˀɡ̊]

Verb

joke (past tense jokede, past participle joket)

1. joke

Conjugation

Inflection of joke

	present	past
simple	joker	jokede
perfect	har joket	havde joket
passive	jokes	jokedes
participle	jokende	joket
imperative	joke	—
infinitive	joke	—
auxiliary verb	have	—
gerund	joken	—

Synonyms

• spøge

French

Etymology

From English joke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒok/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /dʒoʊk/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Noun

joke f (plural jokes)

1. (Louisiana, Quebec) joke
   • 2009, Robert Maltais, Le Curé du Mile End, page 195:

     Non, non, c’est juste une joke. Garde-lé, ton vingt piastres.

     No, no, that was a joke. Keep it, your twenty bucks.

Derived terms

• faire une joke