Joyride
//ˈd͡ʒɔɪˌɹaɪd// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A ride in a vehicle taken solely for pleasure or enjoyment, especially a vehicle ride taken with no particular goal or purpose and just for the pleasure or enjoyment of a vehicle ride.
"Launched last March, the H.C.C. is similar to a country club-except, instead of playing golf, members take joyrides or leisurely weekend trips in any of the top-of-the-line cars housed in a Century City garage."
- 2 a ride in a car taken solely for pleasure wordnet
- 3 An instance of driving a motor vehicle in a carefree or reckless manner, especially a vehicle which has been taken without the permission of the owner.
"Thieves took three go-karts for a joyride through the streets of Norwich."
- 4 A very pleasant experience. figuratively
"Hello, you fool, I love you / Come on, join the joyride"
Verb
- 1 To take a joyride. intransitive
"You joyride around for a while listening / to the radio, and then abandon death, walk / away, and leave death for the police / to find."
- 2 ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it wordnet
Example
More examples"Tom took his father's car for a joyride."
Etymology
From joy + ride.
Related phrases
More for "joyride"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.