What does "junket" mean?
A basket.
Junket
noun, verb
noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A basket.
- Grammar: junket is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: excursion, banquet, campaign, carrot pudding.
- Useful contrasts: personal trip, remain at home, savory dish.
- Usage evidence: I love your meads, and I love your flowers, / And I love your junkets mainly […].
How to use "junket"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "junket" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "junket" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "junket" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "junket" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "junket" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "excursion" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "junket", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A basket. obsolete
- 2 a trip taken by an official at public expense wordnet
- 3 A type of cream cheese, originally made in a rush basket; later, a food made of sweetened curds.
"I love your meads, and I love your flowers, / And I love your junkets mainly […]."
- 4 a journey taken for pleasure wordnet
- 5 A delicacy. obsolete
"[…] though bride and bridegroom wants For to supply the places at the table, You know there wants no junkets at the feast."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 dessert made of sweetened milk coagulated with rennet wordnet
- 7 A feast or banquet.
"Conversation is the natural Junket of the Mind ; and most Men have an Appetite to it, once in the day at least […]."
- 8 A pleasure trip; a journey made for feasting or enjoyment, now especially a trip made ostensibly for business but which entails merrymaking or entertainment.
"It did strike him as odd, perhaps, that merchants did not dare to go on a junket or plan a congenial dinner without pretending to themselves that it had some business significance."
- 9 Ellipsis of press junket. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"An entertainment reporter who is a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Freeman made comments about her skirt and her legs during two different junkets."
- 10 A gaming room for which the capacity and limits change daily, often rented out to private vendors who run tour groups through them and give a portion of the proceeds to the main casino.
Verb
- 1 To attend a junket; to feast. dated, intransitive
"Be careful that you wast not, or spoil your Ladies, or Mistresses goods, neither sit you up junketing a nights, after your Master and Mistress be abed."
- 2 partake in a feast or banquet wordnet
- 3 To go on a junket; to travel. intransitive
"Together they made trips to town or junketed over the country in search of furniture and dishes of which Miss Sally had heard."
- 4 provide a feast or banquet for wordnet
- 5 To regale or entertain with a feast. transitive
Show 1 more definition
- 6 go on a pleasure trip wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
personal tripremain at homesavory dishself funded travel
Example
"I love your meads, and I love your flowers, / And I love your junkets mainly […]."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "junket"?
Common synonyms include: excursion, banquet, campaign, carrot pudding, charlotte, chocolate mousse.
How do you use "junket" in a sentence?
I love your meads, and I love your flowers, / And I love your junkets mainly […].
Etymology
From Middle English jonket (“basket made of rushes”), from Medieval Latin iuncta, possibly from Latin iuncus (“rush, reed”) and therefore a possible doublet of jonquil. Meaning shifted to “feast or banquet” by 1520s, probably via the notion of a picnic basket. This in turn led to the sense of “pleasure trip” (1814), and then to specifically to “trip made ostensibly for business but which entails merrymaking or entertainment” by 1886 in American English.