joke

Wikipedia

See also: Joke

English

Etymology

from Latin iocus

Pronunciation

• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /dʒoʊk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊk

Noun

joke (plural jokes)

1. An amusing story.
   • Gay

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

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

   It was a joke!

   • Alexander Pope

     Enclose whole downs in walls, 'tis all a joke.

3. (figuratively) The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one
4. (figuratively) A worthless thing or person.

   Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke.

   The president was a joke.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:joke

Derived terms

terms derived from joke (noun)

bad joke standing joke knock-knock joke

light bulb joke practical joke

Related terms

• jocular

Coordinate terms

• comedy
• limerick
• parody
• pun

Translations

amusing story

• Armenian: անեկդոտ (anekdot)
• Azeri: lətifə (az)
• Catalan: acudit m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 笑話, 笑话 (zh) (xiàohua)

• Czech: vtip (cs) m
• Danish: vittighed (da)
• Dutch: mop (nl) m, grap (nl) f, grol f
• Esperanto: ŝerco
• Faroese: skemtisøga f, krønika f
• Finnish: vitsi (fi), pila (fi), (obsolete) kasku (fi)
• French: plaisanterie (fr) f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Witz (de) m
• Greek: ανέκδοτο (el) n (anékdoto)
• Hebrew: בדיחה (he) f (b'dikhá)
• Hungarian: vicc (hu)
• Icelandic: brandari m
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} barzelletta (it) f, battuta f scherzo m , ^{(please verify)} celia (it) f
• Japanese: 冗談 (ja) (じょうだん, jōdan)
• Korean: 농담 (ko) (nongdam) (弄談 (ko))

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: نوکته‌

• Kyrgyz: тамаша (ky) (tamaşa)
• Latvian: joks (lv) m
• Malay: jenaka, seloroh
• Mongolian: онигоо (onigoo)
• Norwegian: vits (no) m
• Persian: جوک (fa) (jok)
• Polish: dowcip (pl) m, kawał (pl), żart (pl)
• Portuguese: piada (pt) f
• Romanian: banc (ro) n, glumă (ro)
• Russian: анекдот (ru) m (anekdót), шутка (ru) f (šútka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ша́ла f

  Roman: šála f

• Spanish: broma (es) f, chiste (es) m
• Swahili: kasheshe (sw)
• Swedish: skämt (sv) n, rolig historia (sv) c, vits (sv) c
• Tagalog: biro
• Turkish: fıkra (tr)
• Welsh: jôc f

something said or done for amusement

• Arabic: نكتة f (núkta)
• Azeri: zarafat (az)
• Belarusian: жарт m (žart)
• Bulgarian: шега (bg) f (šéga)
• Catalan: broma (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 玩笑 (zh) (wánxiào)

• Czech: vtip (cs), vtípek (cs), žert (cs), žertík
• Danish: spøg (da) c
• Dutch: mop (nl) m, grap (nl) f, geintje (nl) n, lol (nl) f
• Finnish: pila (fi), kuje, kepponen (fi)
• French: plaisanterie (fr) f, blague (fr) f
• German: Scherz (de) m, Streich (de) m
• Greek: αστείο (el) n (asteío)
• Hebrew: בדיחה (he) f (b'dikhá)
• Hindi: मज़ाक (mazāk)
• Hungarian: tréfa (hu)
• Icelandic: grín (is) n, spaug n
• 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)
• Kazakh: әзіл (äzil), қалжың (qaljıñ)
• Korean: 농담 (ko) (nongdam) (弄談 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: گاڵته‌

• Latin: iocus m
• Latvian: joks (lv) m
• Macedonian: шега f (šéga)
• Malay: lawak
• Norwegian: spøk m
• Persian: شوخی (fa) (šuxi)
• Polish: dowcip (pl) m, żart (pl) m, kawał (pl) m
• Portuguese: brincadeira (pt) f
• Romanian: glumă (ro)
• Russian: шутка (ru) f (šútka)
• Scottish Gaelic: cleas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ша́ла f

  Roman: šála f

• Slovak: vtip m, žart m
• Slovene: šala (sl) f
• Spanish: broma (es) f
• Swahili: kasheshe (sw)
• Swedish: skämt (sv) n
• Tagalog: biro
• Turkish: şaka (tr)
• Ukrainian: жарт m (žart)
• Vietnamese: đùa (vi), lời nói đùa, câu nói đùa
• Volapük: cog (vo), (diminutive) cogil

the root issue

• Polish: dowcip (pl) m

worthless thing or person

• Czech: šašek, klaun
• Dutch: grap (nl) f, aanfluiting (nl) f
• French: raté (fr) m, ratée (fr) f
• German: Witz (de) m
• Hungarian: vicc (hu)
• Icelandic: brandari m
• Italian: burla (it) f
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: گاڵته‌

• Norwegian: vits (no) m
• Persian: مسخره (fa) (masxare), (person) شوت (fa) (šut)
• Polish: żart (pl) m
• Portuguese: piada (pt) f
• Romanian: glumă (ro)
• Russian: (person) клоун (ru) m (klóun), (person) шут (ru) m (šut)
• Swahili: kasheshe (sw)
• Swedish: skämt (sv) n
• Tagalog: gago (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. (transitive, dated) To make merry with; to make jokes upon; to rally.

   to joke a comrade

Related terms

• joker

Translations

do for amusement

• Arabic: مزح (mazaHa)
• Belarusian: жартаваць (žartavácʹ)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: žertovat
• Danish: spøge
• Dutch: grappen (nl), grappenmaken
• Esperanto: ŝerci
• Finnish: vitsailla (fi), pilailla (fi)
• French: plaisanter (fr), blaguer (fr)
• German: scherzen (de), Witze machen, Spaß machen
• Greek: ατειεύομαι (ateiévomai)
• Hebrew: התלוצץ (hitlotséts), התבדח (hitbadéakh)
• Hungarian: tréfál (hu), viccel (hu)
• Icelandic: grínast, spauga
• Italian: scherzare (it)
• Japanese: 冗談を言う (じょうだんをいう, jōdan o iu), 冷やかす (ひやかす, hiyakasu), 巫山戯る (ja) (ふざける, fuzakeru)
• Korean: 농담하다 (ko) (nongdamhada)
• Kurdish:

• Kyrgyz: тамашалоо (ky) (tamaşaloo), калжың кылуу (ky) (kalcıñ kıluu)

  Sorani: گالته‌ کردن

• Latin: iocor
• Latvian: jokot
• Neapolitan: pazzià
• Norwegian: tulle
• Polish: żartować (pl)
• Portuguese: gracejar (pt)
• Russian: шутить (ru) impf (šutít’), пошутить (ru) pf (šutít’)
• Sicilian: babbiàri
• Slovak: žartovať
• Spanish: bromear (es)
• Swahili: mzaha (sw), kasheshe (sw)
• Swedish: skämta (sv), skoja (sv)
• Tagalog: biro
• Turkish: şaka yapmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: жартувати (uk) (žartuváty)
• Vietnamese: nói đùa (vi)
• Volapük: cogön (vo)

See also

• jeer
• mock

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French

Etymology

From English joke.

Pronunciation

• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /dʒoʊk/

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.