What does "jest" mean?

An act performed for amusement; a joke.

What is a synonym for "jest"?

Common synonyms include: banter, gag, joke, joke, a continental, a curse.

//d͡ʒɛst// adv, noun, verb

adv, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Noun

1
An act performed for amusement; a joke. archaic
"I made that comment in jest; it wasn't serious."
2
activity characterized by good humor wordnet
3
Someone or something that is ridiculed; the target of a joke. archaic
"Your majesty, stop him before he makes you the jest of the court."
4
a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter wordnet
5
A deed; an action; a gest. obsolete
"the jests or actions of princes"

Show 1 more definition

6
A mask; a pageant; an interlude. obsolete
"He promised us, in honour of our guest, / To grace our banquet with some pompous jest."

Verb

1
To tell a joke; to talk in a playful manner; to make fun of something or someone.
"Surely you jest!"
2
act in a funny or teasing way wordnet
3
tell a joke; speak humorously wordnet

Adverb

1
Pronunciation spelling of just. Shropshire, Southern-US, alt-of, not-comparable, pronunciation-spelling
"So I jest called out to know what was up, and found it was Miss Vanholte's cowboys, who had been forced into the store by them rascally ruffins."

"Many a true word is spoken in jest."

From Middle English geste (“idle tale”), from Old French geste (“acts, exploits”), from Latin gesta (“acts, deeds”). Doublet of gest.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.