jokenoun
uk/dʒəʊk/us/dʒoʊk/joke noun (FUNNY)
B1 [ C ] something, such as a funny story or trick, that is said or done in order to make people laugh:
Did I tell you the joke about the chicken crossing the road?
She spent the evening cracking (= telling) jokes and telling funny stories.
She tied his shoelaces together for a joke.
I hope Rob doesn't tell any of his dirty jokes (= jokes about sex) when my mother's here.
He tried to do a comedy routine, but all his jokes fell flat (= no one laughed at them).
Don't you get (= understand) the joke?
More examples
- He tried to cheer everyone up by telling a joke.
- That's an old joke - I've heard it about a thousand times.
- Why does no one ever laugh at my jokes?
- Do you know any funny jokes?
- A Christmas cracker usually contains a paper hat, a joke and a novelty.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Humour & humorous
- a bundle of laughs idiom
- blackly
- bring
- bundle
- crack
- don't make me laugh! idiom
- funny ha-ha or funny peculiar? idiom
- gallows humour
- hysterical
- jocular
- josh
- killing
- lambent
- laugh
- sarcasm
- satirize
- tickle
- witty
- wordplay
- you've got to laugh idiom
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joke noun (BAD/SILLY)
C1 [ S ] informal a person or thing that is very bad or silly:
Our new teacher's a joke - he can't even control the class.
The new software is a complete joke - it keeps crashing.
The test was a joke (= was very easy) - everyone finished in less than an hour.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Mocking and taunting
- burlesque
- caricature
- deride
- derision
- derisive
- fun
- haze
- lampoon
- lay yourself open to ridicule idiom
- make a mockery of sth idiom
- make a monkey out of sb idiom
- mimic
- mock
- mockery
- mocking
- sardonic
- scoff
- send
- send sb/sth up
- send-up
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Idiom(s)
be no joke
get/go beyond a joke
the joke is on sb
make a joke of sth
take a joke
jokeverb [ I ]
uk/dʒəʊk/us/dʒoʊk/B1 to say funny things:
They joked and laughed as they looked at the photos.
It's more serious than you think, so please don't joke about it.
[ + speech ] "I didn't expect to be out so soon", he joked, after spending nine months in hospital.
B1 If you think that someone is joking, you think that they do not really mean what they say:
I thought he was joking when he said Helen was pregnant, but she really is.
She wasn't joking (= she was serious) when she said she was going to move out of the house.
More examples
- I thought she was joking but she was deadly serious.
- Just blow off his comments, he's only joking.
- The normally dour Mr James was photographed smiling and joking with friends.
- He jokes about it now, but at the time it was very serious.
- Don't joke about it! It's not funny.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Humour & humorous
- a bundle of laughs idiom
- blackly
- bring
- bundle
- crack
- don't make me laugh! idiom
- funny ha-ha or funny peculiar? idiom
- gallows humour
- hysterical
- jocular
- josh
- killing
- lambent
- laugh
- sarcasm
- satirize
- tickle
- witty
- wordplay
- you've got to laugh idiom
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Not believing
Idiom(s)
joking apart/aside
only joking!
you must be joking
you're joking!