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 Norwegian Nynorsk jol
The Tea room (+ ) is discussing this entry at the moment.
Please come along and share your opinions on this and the other topics being discussed there.
joke (plural jokes
An amusing story.
1708 John Gay , Wine :Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.
Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.
It was a joke !
( figuratively ) ( figuratively ) worthless thing or person; a sham .
Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke .
The president was a joke .
1943 Railway Magazine , page 272 :The other wheel on the tender of the L.N.W.R. engines operated the tender brake, and this was always rather a joke . Sometimes it operated with good results and on other occasions it did not.
( figuratively ) The final exam was a joke .
Collocations
Adjectives often applied to "joke": old, bad, inside, poor, silly, funny, lame, hilarious, stupid, offensive.
amusing story
Albanian: shaka (sq) f
Arabic: طُرْفَة f ( ṭurfa ) , نُكْتَة f ( nukta ) , نَادِرَة f ( nādira ) , لَطِيفَة f ( laṭīfa )
Egyptian Arabic: نكتة f ( nukta )
Gulf Arabic: نكتة f ( nikta )
Hijazi Arabic: نُكْتة f ( nukta )
Moroccan Arabic: نكتة ( nukta )
South Levantine Arabic: نكتة ( nukte )
Armenian: անեկդոտ (hy) ( anekdot ) , կատակ (hy) ( katak )
Azerbaijani: lətifə (az)
Basque: txiste
Belarusian: жарт m ( žart ) , анекдо́т m ( anjekdót ) , до́сціп m ( dóscip )
Bulgarian: шега́ (bg) f ( šegá ) , анекдо́т (bg) m ( anekdót ) , виц (bg) m ( vic )
Carpathian Rusyn: фіґель m ( figelʹ ) , анекдо́т m ( anekdót ) , смішо́к m ( smišók )
Catalan: acudit (ca) m
Chechen: забар ( zabar ) , бегаш ( begaš )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 笑話 ／ 笑话 ( siu3 waa6-2 )
Hakka: 笑話 ／ 笑话 ( seu-fa )
Hokkien: 笑詼 ／ 笑诙 (zh-min-nan) ( chhiò-khoe, chhiò-khe ) , 笑話 ／ 笑话 (zh-min-nan) ( chhiò-ōe )
Mandarin: 笑話 ／ 笑话 (zh) ( xiàohua )
Coptic: ⲥⲁϫⲓ ⲛ̀ⲥⲱⲃⲓ m ( sači ǹsōbi )
Corsican: macagna f
Czech: vtip (cs) m
Danish: vittighed (da) c vits c joke c
Dutch: mop (nl) m grap (nl) f grol (nl) f
Esperanto: ŝerco amuzaĵo
Estonian: nali anekdoot
Faroese: skemtisøga f krønika f
Finnish: vitsi (fi) , pila (fi) , ( dated ) kasku (fi) , ( slang ) läppä (fi)
French: plaisanterie (fr) f blague (fr) f joke (fr) f
Georgian: ხუმრობა ( xumroba ) , ანეკდოტი ( aneḳdoṭi )
German: Witz (de) m
Greek: ανέκδοτο (el) n ( anékdoto )
Ancient: σκῶμμα n ( skômma ) , χλεύη f ( khleúē )
Guaraní: pukarã
Hebrew: בְּדִיחָה (he) f ( b'dikhá )
Hindi: चुटकुला (hi) m ( cuṭkulā ) , लतीफ़ा m ( latīfā )
Hungarian: vicc (hu)
Icelandic: brandari (is) m
Indonesian: candaan
Ingrian: nalja šuutka
Italian: barzelletta (it) f battuta (it) f scherzo (it) m celia (it) f
Japanese: 冗談 (ja) ( じょうだん, jōdan )
Khmer: ហាសវត្ថុ ( haasaʼvŏətthoʼ )
Korean: 농담(弄談) (ko) ( nongdam ) , 롱담(弄談) (ko) ( rongdam ) ( North Korea )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: نوکتە ( nukte )
Northern Kurdish: henek (ku)
Kyrgyz: тамаша (ky) ( tamaşa )
Latin: iocus (la) m nūgae f pl
Latvian: joks (lv) m
Macedonian: шега f ( šega )
Malay: jenaka (ms) , seloroh
Malayalam: തമാശ (ml) ( tamāśa )
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: онигоо (mn) ( onigoo )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: vits (no) m
Nynorsk: vits m
Oromo: qoosaa
Ottoman Turkish: شقا ( şaka ) , اویون ( oyun ) , لطیفه ( latife )
Persian:
Iranian Persian: لَطیفِه (fa) ( latife ) , جوک (fa) ( jok ) , شوخی (fa) ( šuxi ) , مِزاح (fa) ( mezâh )
Plautdietsch: Spos n
Polish: dowcip (pl) m kawał (pl) , żart (pl)
Portuguese: piada (pt) f
Romani:
Balkan Romani: pherǎs
Romanian: banc (ro) n glumă (ro) f șagă (ro) f
Russian: анекдо́т (ru) m ( anekdót ) , шу́тка (ru) f ( šútka )
Scottish Gaelic: fealla-dhà m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ша́ла f
Roman: šála (sh) f
Slovak: vtip m
Slovene: šala (sl) f
Spanish: broma (es) f chiste (es) m chascarrillo (es)
Swahili: kasheshe (sw)
Swedish: rolig historia (sv) c vits (sv) c skämt (sv) n
Tagalog: biro
Tajik: аския ( askiya ) , латифа (tg) ( latifa )
Thai: มุก (th) ( múk )
Tibetan: ཀྱལ ( kyal )
Turkish: fıkra (tr)
Turkmen: degişme
Ukrainian: жарт m ( žart ) , до́теп (uk) m ( dótep ) , анекдо́т (uk) m ( anekdót )
Urdu: لَطِیفَہ m ( latīfa )
Uyghur: لەتىپە ( letipe ) , شاڭخو ( shangxo )
Uzbek: latifa (uz)
Vietnamese: chuyện tiếu lâm
Waray-Waray: ti-aw
Welsh: jôc (cy) f
Yiddish: וויץ m ( vits )
something said or done for amusement
Albanian: shaka (sq) f mbrrakulli
Arabic: نُكْتَة f ( nukta ) , هَزْل m ( hazl )
Armenian: կատակ (hy) ( katak )
Azerbaijani: zarafat (az)
Basque: txantxa
Belarusian: жарт m ( žart )
Bengali: প্রহসন (bn) ( prohośon ) , রসিকতা (bn) ( rośikota )
Bulgarian: шега́ (bg) f ( šegá )
Burmese: အသော (my) ( a.sau: )
Catalan: broma (ca) f
Chechen: бегаш ( begaš ) , забар ( zabar )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 玩笑 (zh) ( wánxiào )
Coptic: ⲥⲁϫⲓ ⲛ̀ⲥⲱⲃⲓ m ( sači ǹsōbi )
Corsican: macagna f
Czech: vtip (cs) m vtípek (cs) m žert (cs) m žertík m
Danish: spøg (da) c
Dutch: mop (nl) m grap (nl) f geintje (nl) n lol (nl) f
Esperanto: amuzaĵo
Estonian: nali
Faroese: skemt
Finnish: pila (fi) , kuje (fi) , kepponen (fi) , vitsi (fi) , kasku (fi) , sutkaus
French: plaisanterie (fr) f blague (fr) f
Georgian: ხუმრობა ( xumroba )
German: Scherz (de) m Streich (de) m Witz (de) m Spaß (de) m
Greek: αστείο (el) n ( asteío )
Ancient: σκῶμμα n ( skômma ) , χλεύη f ( khleúē )
Hebrew: בְּדִיחָה (he) f ( b'dikhá )
Hindi: मज़ाक़ m ( mazāq ) , चुटकुला (hi) m ( cuṭkulā ) , लतीफ़ा m ( latīfā )
Hungarian: tréfa (hu)
Icelandic: grín (is) n spaug n
Indonesian: lelucon (id) , lawak (id)
Interlingua: burla
Irish: cleas m
Italian: battuta (it) f scherzo (it) m celia (it) f
Japanese: 冗談 (ja) ( じょうだん, jōdan ) , ジョーク (ja) ( jōku )
Kabuverdianu: txakóta txokóta
Kazakh: әзіл ( äzıl ) , қалжың ( qaljyñ ) , ажуа ( ajua ) , ойын ( oiyn )
Khmer: ពាក្យនិយាយលេង ( piək niyiəy leing ) , ល្បែងលេងសើច ( lbaeng leing saəc )
Korean: 농담(弄談) (ko) ( nongdam ) , 롱담(弄談) (ko) ( rongdam ) ( North Korea )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گاڵتە (ckb) ( gallte )
Northern Kurdish: henek (ku) , galte (ku)
Kyrgyz: тамаша (ky) ( tamaşa ) , азил (ky) ( azil )
Lao: ເລື່ອງຕະຫຼົກ ( lư̄ang ta lok )
Latin: iocus (la) m facetia f
Latvian: joks (lv) m
Lithuanian: juõkas (lt) m pókštas (lt) m
Macedonian: шега f ( šega )
Malay: lawak (ms)
Malayalam: തമാശ (ml) ( tamāśa )
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хошигнол (mn) ( xošignol )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: spøk (no) m
Nynorsk: spøk m
Ottoman Turkish: شقا ( şaka ) , اویون ( oyun ) , لطیفه ( latife )
Pannonian Rusyn: франта f ( franta ) , жарта f ( žarta )
Pashto: ټوکه (ps) f ( ṭoka ) , انک (ps) m ( anák )
Persian:
Iranian Persian: شوخی (fa) ( šuxi ) , مِزاح (fa) ( mezâh ) , هَزْل (fa) ( hazl )
Polish: dowcip (pl) m żart (pl) m kawał (pl) m
Portuguese: brincadeira (pt) f
Romani:
Balkan Romani: pherǎs
Romanian: glumă (ro)
Russian: шу́тка (ru) f ( šútka ) , остро́та (ru) f ( ostróta )
Sanskrit: विनोदकणिका f ( vinodakaṇikā ) , उपहासगिर् (sa) f ( upahāsagir ) , अभिहास (sa) m ( abhihāsa )
Scottish Gaelic: cleas m fealla-dhà m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ша́ла f
Roman: šála (sh) f
Slovak: vtip m žart m
Slovene: šala (sl) f
Spanish: broma (es) f cuchufleta (es) , facecia f
Swahili: kasheshe (sw) , mzaha (sw)
Swedish: skämt (sv) n
Tagalog: biro
Tajik: шӯхӣ ( šüxi ) , ҳазл ( hazl ) , мазоҳ ( mazoh )
Thai: มุก (th) ( múk ) , เรื่องตลก ( rʉ̂ʉang-dtà-lòk )
Tibetan: བསྟན་ཤིག་སློང ( bstan shig slong )
Turkish: şaka (tr) , latife (tr)
Turkmen: oýun
Ukrainian: жарт m ( žart )
Urdu: مَذاق m ( mazāq ) , لَطِیفَہ m ( latīfa ) , ہَزْل m ( hazl )
Uyghur: چاقچاق ( chaqchaq ) , مايداڭ ( maydang ) , ھەزىل ( hezil )
Uzbek: xazil (uz)
Vietnamese: đùa (vi) , lời nói đùa câu nói đùa
Volapük: cog (vo) , ( diminutive ) cogil
Yiddish: וויץ m ( vits ) , שפּאַס m ( shpas )
worthless thing or person
Czech: šašek (cs) m klaun m
Dutch: grap (nl) f aanfluiting (nl) f
French: raté (fr) m ratée (fr) f
Georgian: დასაცინი ( dasacini ) , სასაცილო ( sasacilo ) , მასხარა (ka) ( masxara )
German: Witz (de) m
Hungarian: vicc (hu)
Icelandic: brandari (is) m
Italian: burla (it) f
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گاڵتە (ckb) ( gallte )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: vits (no) m
Persian:
Iranian Persian: مَسْخَرِه (fa) ( masxare ) , شوت (fa) ( šut ) ( person )
Polish: żart (pl) m
Portuguese: piada (pt) f
Romani:
Balkan Romani: devruś
Romanian: glumă (ro)
Russian: ( person ) кло́ун (ru) m ( klóun ) , ( person ) шут (ru) m ( šut ) , посме́шище (ru) n ( posméšišče )
Spanish: tomadura de pelo (es) f
Swedish: skämt (sv) n
Tagalog: gago (tl) ( derogatory ) gaguhan panggagago
joke (third-person singular simple present jokes present participle joking simple past and past participle joked
( intransitive ) I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking .
(intransitive , followed by with ) To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with , play with .
Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.
( transitive , dated ) to joke a comrade
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray , chapter 21, in The History of Pendennis. [ … ] (please specify |volume=I or II) , London: Bradbury and Evans , [ … ] 1849–1850 , →OCLC He made more than one visit to Oxbridge, where the young fellows were amused by entertaining the old gentleman, and gave parties and breakfasts and fêtes, partly to joke him and partly to do him honour.
do for amusement
Afrikaans: grap
Arabic: مَزَحَ ( mazaḥa )
Hijazi Arabic: مزح ( mazaḥ ) , نَكَّت ( nakkat )
Armenian: կատակել (hy) ( katakel ) , զվարճախոսել (hy) ( zvarčaxosel )
Azerbaijani: zarafat etmək
Belarusian: жартава́ць impf ( žartavácʹ )
Bulgarian: шегувам се ( šeguvam se )
Burmese: ရွှတ် (my) ( hrwat )
Cherokee: ᎦᏪᏟᎭ ( gawetliha )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 開玩笑 ／ 开玩笑 (zh) ( kāi wánxiào )
Czech: žertovat (cs)
Danish: spøge
Dutch: grappen (nl) , grappenmaken
Esperanto: ŝerci
Estonian: naljatama
Faroese: skemta
Finnish: vitsailla (fi) , pilailla (fi)
French: plaisanter (fr) , blaguer (fr)
Georgian: ხუმრობა ( xumroba ) , ოხუნჯობა ( oxunǯoba ) , ლაზღანდარობა ( lazɣandaroba )
German: scherzen (de) , Witze machen, Spaß machen, witzeln (de)
Greek: ατειεύομαι ( ateiévomai )
Ancient: σκώπτω ( skṓptō )
Hebrew: התלוצץ (he) ( hitlotséts ) , התבדח ( hitbadéakh )
Hungarian: tréfál (hu) , viccel (hu)
Icelandic: grínast spauga (is)
Ingrian: šuutkia
Italian: scherzare (it)
Japanese: 冗談 を 言う ( じょうだんをいう, jōdan o iu ) , 冷やかす (ja) ( ひやかす, hiyakasu ) , 巫山戯る (ja) ( ふざける, fuzakeru )
Korean: 농담하다 (ko) ( nongdamhada ) , 롱담하다 ( rongdamhada ) ( North Korea )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گالتە کردن ( galte kirdin )
Kyrgyz: тамашалоо (ky) ( tamaşaloo ) , калжың кылуу (ky) ( kaljıŋ kıluu )
Latin: iocor (la) , ioculor (la)
Latvian: jokot
Neapolitan: pazzià
Norwegian: tulle (no) , tulle bort kødde
Old English: gamenian
Ottoman Turkish: لطیفه ایتمك ( latife etmek )
Polish: żartować (pl)
Portuguese: gracejar (pt) , contar piada brincar (pt) m
Romani:
Balkan Romani: kerel pherǎs, asavel marel pherǎs marel muj
Romanian: glumi (ro)
Russian: шути́ть (ru) impf ( šutítʹ ) , пошути́ть (ru) pf ( pošutítʹ )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: шалити се impf
Roman: šaliti se (sh) impf
Sicilian: babbiàri
Slovak: žartovať impf
Slovene: šaliti se impf hecati se impf
Sorbian:
Upper Sorbian: žortować (hsb) impf
Spanish: bromear (es)
Swedish: skämta (sv) , skoja (sv)
Tagalog: biro
Turkish: şaka yapmak (tr)
Ukrainian: жартува́ти (uk) impf ( žartuváty )
Vietnamese: nói đùa (vi)
Volapük: cogön (vo)
Borrowed from English joke
joke c singular definite joken plural indefinite jokes
joke Borrowed from English joke
joke (past tense jokede past participle joket
joke From English joke
joke f plural jokes
( North America ) joke 2009 Le Curé du Mile End , page 195 :Non, non, c’est juste une joke No, no, that was a joke . Keep it, your twenty bucks. 
