Joke Meaning
/ˈd͡ʒəʊ̯k/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn amusing story.
nounSomething said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.
Sentence Examples
Your joke bears repeating.
You went too far in your joke.
You should not play a joke on me.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He told a funny ____ that made everyone at the party laugh until their sides hurt.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He told a funny ____ that made everyone in the room laugh uncontrollably for several minutes today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter."
— 1708, John Gay, Wine:
"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."
— 1943 September and October, T. Lovatt Williams, “Some Reminiscences of the Footplate—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 272:
"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."
— 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 21, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He told a funny ____ that made everyone at the party laugh until their sides hurt.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He told a funny ____ that made everyone in the room laugh uncontrollably for several minutes today.