Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Joker

//ˈd͡ʒəʊkə// name, noun, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A fictional villain of DC Comics, noted for his insanity and cunning, who either wears clown makeup or is disfigured to appear as such, and who is archenemy of Batman.

    "...grinning like the Joker, Batman's nemesis, a character described in the story as being a favorite of Douglas's."

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who makes jokes.
  2. 2
    a playing card that is usually printed with a picture of a jester wordnet
  3. 3
    A funny person. slang
  4. 4
    an inconspicuous clause in a document or bill that affects its meaning in a way that is not immediately apparent wordnet
  5. 5
    A jester.
Show 11 more definitions
  1. 6
    a person who enjoys telling or playing jokes wordnet
  2. 7
    A playing card that features a picture of a joker (that is, a jester) and that may be used as a wild card in some card games.
  3. 8
    a person who does something thoughtless or annoying wordnet
  4. 9
    Something kept in reserve that can be used to gain an advantage; a trump card. figuratively

    "Rebus decided to use their joker. 'Mr Lintz made a phone call to this office. He was talking for over twenty minutes.'"

  5. 10
    An unspecified, vaguely disreputable person.

    "Some joker keeps throwing eggs at my windows."

  6. 11
    An unspecified, vaguely disreputable person.; A loser.

    "Don't waste your breath on these jokers round here."

  7. 12
    A man. New-Zealand, colloquial
  8. 13
    A clause in a contract that undermines its apparent provisions.

    "Discussion of contracts and the many provisions contained therein led to a vote making it the sense of the convention that manufacturers should use a simple sales contract, free from jokers."

  9. 14
    A friendly unit that acts as a suspected hostile unit in a military excercise.

    "Joker - A friendly track or contact acting as a "suspect" track for exercise purposes only. (STANAG 1241)"

  10. 15
    The option, in a pub quiz, of selecting one particular round in which one's team will score double points.

    "We used our joker as soon as the topic of sports was announced, since we are sport experts."

  11. 16
    A fairy chess piece that moves like the last piece that was moved by the opponent.

    "The problem is that it would be difficult to use a joker offensively since you could never know how it was going to move, meaning it’d be most useful setting it up for potential queen/rook captures to disincentivize your opponent from moving those pieces."

Etymology

From joke + -er, but in the sense of a playing card possibly by alteration of Jucker, also the origin of the name of the card game euchre.

See also for "joker"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: joker