joker
joker Lexical Profile
joker Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who is fond of telling jokes, making witty remarks, or playing playful pranks.
"Every office seems to have at least one resident joker who lightens the mood during stressful meetings."
An extra playing card included in standard decks, typically bearing the illustration of a court jester and used as a wild card or highest trump in various card games.
"Before dealing the hands for poker, the host removed both jokers from the deck."
An annoying, inept, or foolish person (informal).
"Some careless joker parked right across the driveway and blocked everyone from leaving."
American An inconspicuous or seemingly harmless clause inserted into a legislative bill or contract that later proves to nullify or drastically alter its intended effect.
"Legal analysts discovered a clever joker buried in the fine print of the regulatory bill that exempted several major corporations."
• Rhymes for joker
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in English from the verb 'joke' (derived from Latin 'jocus', meaning a jest or pastime) and the agentive suffix '-er'. The playing card sense emerged in the United States during the 1860s for the game of euchre, likely evolving from 'Juker', a regional phonetic spelling of the game's name used for its highest-ranking trump card.