joke

A2 Topic:Entertainment & Leisure

US /d͡ʒoʊk/ UK /d͡ʒəʊk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like jock /ɑ/ vs /oʊ/

Freq #1018

Meanings

1

noun
Something said or done to make people laugh.

He told a funny joke at dinner.
2

verb
To say funny things, or to say something not seriously.

Don't worry, I was only joking.
3

noun
A person or thing that is too bad to be taken seriously.

Their security system is a joke.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · something said or done to... jest

2 verb · to say funny things, or to... jest

Word family

Forms jokedjokesjoking

Derived forms anti-jokeantijokedial-a-jokein-jokejokeejokefestjokeficjokefuljokelessjokeletjokelikejokely

Related forms fun jeer jester jocular joker laugh laughingstock mock ridicule witty

Appears in

Phrases (7)

See all

bad joke
A joke that is not funny or is in poor taste

Adjective + noun
old joke
A joke that is so well known it has lost its freshness

Adjective + noun
get a joke
To understand the humour in a joke

Verb + noun
make a joke
To produce a humorous remark or story

Verb + noun
tell a joke
To narrate a joke to an audience

Verb + noun
dark joke
A joke that treats a serious or disturbing subject with humour

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

Joke appeared in the late 17th century, apparently at first as slang. It probably derives from Latin jocus, meaning “jest” or “wordplay,” which also underlies related words such as jocund and jocular.

Etymology

From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian joc, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

*yek- Proto-Indo-European *jokos Proto-Italic *yokos Proto-Indo-European

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Topics

Entertainment & Leisure

External links

# joke

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /d͡ʒoʊk/
**IPA (UK):** /d͡ʒəʊk/
**Frequency rank:** 1018

## Meanings
1. Something said or done to make people laugh.
2. To say funny things, or to say something not seriously.
3. A person or thing that is too bad to be taken seriously.

## Examples
- He told a funny joke at dinner.
- Don't worry, I was only joking.
- Their security system is a joke.

## Derived Forms
- anti-joke
- antijoke
- dial-a-joke
- in-joke
- jokee
- jokefest
- jokefic
- jokeful
- jokeless
- jokelet
- jokelike
- jokely

## Related Forms
- fun
- jeer
- jester
- jocular
- joker
- laugh
- laughingstock
- mock
- ridicule
- witty

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *yek-
- Root: *jokos
- Root: *yokos

## Etymology
From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian joc, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

## AI Etymology
Joke comes from Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian joc, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

## Topics
- Entertainment & Leisure

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