joker

See also: Joker and jóker

English

Etymology

From joke +‎ -er, but in the sense of a playing card possibly by alteration of Jucker, also the origin of the name of the card game euchre.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒəʊkə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒoʊkɚ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊkə(ɹ)

Noun

joker (plural jokers)

1. A person who makes jokes.
2. (slang) A funny person.
3. A jester.

   Synonyms: court jester, fool, jester

4. A playing card that features a picture of a joker (that is, a jester) and that may be used as a wild card in some card games.
5. (figurative) Something kept in reserve that can be used to gain an advantage; a trump card.
   • 2008 September 18, Ian Rankin, The Hanging Garden: The #1 bestselling series that inspired BBC One’s REBUS, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     Rebus decided to use their joker. 'Mr Lintz made a phone call to this office. He was talking for over twenty minutes.'

   • 2012 January 1, Simon Packham, Silenced, Bonnier Publishing Fiction Ltd., →ISBN:

     Tash Wilson played her 'joker' , pulling her chair so close our legs were almost touching. 'Hey, Chris, do you want to go out sometime? All you've got to do is say the word.'

   • 2016 October 17, Dipo Adesida, My French Teacher Had an Igbo Accent: An Inspiring Collection of Memories, Memoirs and Mischiefs, Partridge Africa, →ISBN:

     The director made me understand that my bubble of stardom could burst just as soon as it had been inflated if I didn't watch my attitude. Then he used his joker. I had an understudy so if I messed up or tried to create a scene, I would be summarily replaced.

6. An unspecified, vaguely disreputable person.

   Synonym: clown

   Some joker keeps throwing eggs at my windows.

   1. A loser.

      Don't waste your breath on these jokers round here.

7. (New Zealand, colloquial) A man.
8. A clause in a contract that undermines its apparent provisions.
   • 1922, Farm Machinery and Equipment, page lxxxiii:

     Discussion of contracts and the many provisions contained therein led to a vote making it the sense of the convention that manufacturers should use a simple sales contract, free from jokers.

   • 1939, Canadian Parliament, Official Report of Debates, House of Commons, volume 218, page 858:

     Then, sir, on page 12 of the agreement there is a joker clause, which provides for payments in addition to the ten per cent, […]

   • 1942, Billboard, volume 54, number 41, page 5:

     Stone claimed that there was a Joker in the contract, one clause (No. 2) calling for two weeks' notice and another (No. 8) calling for payment on a par-day basis after the first two weeks.

   • 1958, Duncan Leroy Kennedy, Bill drafting, page 12:

     The object of these provisions is to prevent insertion of "jokers" or "sleepers" in bills and securing passage under the false color of the title.

9. (military) A friendly unit that acts as a suspected hostile unit in a military excercise.
   • 1998, APP-6A: Military Symbols for Land-Based Systems, page 9:

     Joker - A friendly track or contact acting as a "suspect" track for exercise purposes only. (STANAG 1241)

10. The option, in a pub quiz, of selecting one particular round in which one's team will score double points.

    We used our joker as soon as the topic of sports was announced, since we are sport experts.

Derived terms

• cosmic joker
• joker in the pack
• joker lap
• practical joker
• video joker

Related terms

• joke

Translations

person who makes jokes

• Albanian: gaztor (sq) m, hokatar (sq) m, shakaxhi (sq) m
• Belarusian: жартаўні́к m (žartaŭník), жартаўні́ца f (žartaŭníca)
• Bulgarian: шегоби́ец (bg) m (šegobíec), шегоби́йка f (šegobíjka), шегаджи́я (bg) m (šegadžíja), шегаджи́йка f (šegadžíjka)
• Czech: šprýmař m, šprýmařka f, vtipálek (cs) m
• Danish: spasmager c, spøgefugl c, drillepind c
• Esperanto: ŝercemulo
• Finnish: vitsiniekka (fi), vitsailija (fi)
• French: blagueur (fr) m, farceur (fr) m
• Galician: carallán (gl)
• Georgian: ხუმარა (ka) (xumara)
• German: Spaßvogel (de) m
• Ingrian: koiruin, hirvihammas, šuutkuri
• Irish: áilteoir m
• Italian: buffone (it) m, buffone di corte m
• Kazakh: әзілкеш (äzılkeş)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نوکتەباز (nuktebaz)

• Lao: ນັກຕະຫລົກ (nak ta lok)
• Latin: ioculātor (la) m
• Latvian: jokdaris (lv) m
• Macedonian: шегобиец m (šegobiec), шегобијка f (šegobijka), зевзек m (zevzek)
• Maltese: buffu m, buffa f, ċajtier m, ċajtiera f
• Ottoman Turkish: لطیفه‌جی (latifeci)
• Pashto: ټوکي (ps) m (ṭoki)
• Persian: شوخ (fa) (šux)
• Polish: żartowniś (pl) m, dowcipniś (pl) m, błazen (pl) m
• Portuguese: humorista (pt) m or f
• Russian: шутни́к (ru) m (šutník), шутни́ца (ru) f (šutníca)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: vragolan (sh), šutnik, šaljivac (sh)

• Slovak: vtipkár (sk) m
• Slovene: šaljivec m, šaljivka f
• Spanish: bromista (es) m or f, guasón (es) m, chistoso (es) m, humorista m or f, chistosito m
• Swedish: skämtare (sv) c, skojare (sv) c, narr (sv) c
• Thai: นักแสดงตลก, ตัวตลก (th) (dtuua-dtà-lòk)
• Turkish: şakacı (tr), latifeci (tr)
• Ukrainian: жартівни́к m (žartivnýk), жартівни́ця f (žartivnýcja)
• Yiddish: לץ m (lets), לצעכע f (leytsekhe)

jester — see fool

playing card

• Albanian: xhol (sq) m
• Armenian: ջոկեր (hy) (ǰoker)
• Belarusian: джо́кер m (džókjer)
• Bulgarian: жо́кер m (žóker), джо́кер m (džóker)
• Catalan: comodí (ca), jòquer (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 小丑牌 (siu² cau² paai^4-2), 鬼牌 (gwai² paai^4-2), 皇牌 (wong⁴ paai^4-2)

  Mandarin: 皇牌 (huángpái), 鬼牌 (guǐpái), 小丑牌 (xiǎochǒupái), 百搭牌 (bǎidāpái)

• Czech: žolík (cs) m
• Danish: joker c
• Dutch: joker (nl) m
• Esperanto: ĵokero
• Estonian: jokker
• Finnish: jokeri (fi)
• French: joker (fr) m
• Georgian: ჯოკერი (ǯoḳeri)
• German: Joker (de) m, Jolly m
• Greek: μπαλαντέρ (el) m (balantér)
• Hebrew: ג׳וֹקֶר m (jóker)
• Hindi: जोकर (jokar)
• Hungarian: dzsóker (hu)
• Irish: cleasaí m, fear na gcrúb m, an buachaill mór m
• Italian: jolly (it) m, matta (it)
• Japanese: ジョーカー (ja) (jōkā)
• Korean: 조커 (ko) (jokeo)
• Lao: ໂຈກເກີ (chōk kœ̄), ໄພ້ໂຈກເກີ (phaichōk kœ̄)
• Macedonian: џокер m (džoker)
• Maltese: ġowker
• Maori: kēhua
• Marathi: जोकर m (jokar)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: please add this translation if you can

  Roman: džòker (sh) m

• Navajo: jéíg
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: joker (no) m

• Ojibwe: joka
• Persian: جوکر (joker)
• Polish: joker (pl) m, dżoker (pl) m
• Portuguese: curinga (pt) m (Brazil), jóquer (pt) m (Portugal) melé m (regional Brazil)
• Russian: джо́кер (ru) m (džóker)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: џо̀кер m

• Slovak: žolík m
• Slovene: džoker m
• Spanish: comodín (es) m
• Swedish: joker (sv) c
• Thai: โจ๊กเกอร์ (th), ไพ่โจ๊กเกอร์
• Turkish: joker (tr)
• Ukrainian: джо́кер m (džóker)

See also

• 🂿, 🃏, 🃟

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three	four	five	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack, knave	queen	king	joker

Further reading

• Jester on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Joker (playing card) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Joker (character) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Rojek, jerko

Danish

Etymology

From English joker.

Noun

joker c (singular definite jokeren, plural indefinite jokere)

1. joker (playing card)

Declension

Declension of joker

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	joker	jokeren	jokere	jokerne
genitive	jokers	jokerens	jokeres	jokernes

See also

Playing cards in Danish · kort, spillekort (layout · text)
es	toer	treer	firer	femmer	sekser	syver
otter	nier	tier	knægt, bonde	dame, dronning	konge	joker

Further reading

• “joker” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English joker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjoːkər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːkər

Noun

joker m (plural jokers, diminutive jokertje n)

1. joker (playing card)
2. any wild card or similar, even in non-card games

Derived terms

• jokeren
• voor joker staan

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English joker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɔ.kɛʁ/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /dʒo.kœʁ/, [dʒoʊ̯.kœʁ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Noun

joker m (plural jokers)

1. (card games) joker
2. (computing) wildcard
3. (on a game show) lifeline
4. (Scrabble) blank tile

Further reading

• “joker”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English joker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʐɔ.kɛr/
• Rhymes: -ɔkɛr
• Syllabification: jo‧ker

Noun

joker m animal

1. (card games) Alternative spelling of dżoker

Declension

Declension of joker

	singular	plural
nominative	joker	jokery
genitive	jokera	jokerów
dative	jokerowi	jokerom
accusative	jokera	jokery
instrumental	jokerem	jokerami
locative	jokerze	jokerach
vocative	jokerze	jokery

Further reading

• joker in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• joker in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo(w).keʁ/ [ˈd͡ʒo(ʊ̯).keh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo(w).keʁ/ [ˈd͡ʒo(ʊ̯).keh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo(w).keɾ/ [ˈd͡ʒo(ʊ̯).keɾ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo(w).keʁ/ [ˈd͡ʒo(ʊ̯).keχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo(w).keɻ/ [ˈd͡ʒo(ʊ̯).keɻ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo(w).kɛɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo(w).kɛɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒow.kɛɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo.kɛɾ/

• Hyphenation: jo‧ker

Noun

joker m (plural jokers)

1. Alternative form of jóquer

See also

Playing cards in Portuguese · cartas de baralho (layout · text)
ás	dois, duque	três, terno	quatro, quadra	cinco, quina	seis, sena	sete, bisca, manilha
oito	nove	dez	valete	dama	rei	jóquer, curinga

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French joker, English joker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo.kər/

Noun

joker m (plural jokeri)

1. (card games) joker

Declension

Declension of joker

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	joker	jokerul		jokeri	jokerii
genitive-dative	joker	jokerului		jokeri	jokerilor
vocative	jokerule			jokerilor