JOKER • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Joker

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/dʒˈoʊkər/ Listen

noun

Joker n.

One who makes jokes or jests.

(Card Playing) See Best bower, under 2d Bower.

(Card Playing) An extra card usually included in a deck of playing cards, having the same design as the others on the back, but on the face having a picture of a jester. It is not included in the deck used in most games, but in certain games may be included and then takes on a special value, such as the highest-valued card, or a wild card.

A clause placed in a document, such as a contract or a piece of legislation, not itself appearing significant, but in a subtle way substantially changing the effect of the document.

Hence: Any fact or condition which is unknown or not apparent, which reverses an apparently advantageous position; a kicker.

A person; a fellow; a chap; usually used in a mildly disparaging sense; as, who's the joker who left the ice cream on the table?.

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Etymology of 'Joker'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Joker" Quotes from Famous Books

... conversation are a real interest in and knowledge of a common subject; ability on the part of both to contribute something to that subject. Well, if a husband and wife can meet those terms, they can talk. But the joker is, as our legislative friend over there would say," (he nodded down the table toward a young millionaire of altruistic principles, who had got elected to the state assembly) "the joker is that a man and a woman who aren't married, and who are moderately attracted to each other, can talk, ...

— The Real Adventure • Henry Kitchell Webster

... "You're a joker too, it seems," roared the other, but he laughed nevertheless, and the volume of it shook the windows. "There's no offence in ...

— Scaramouche - A Romance of the French Revolution • Rafael Sabatini

... 'cause he's smart enough to use it for his own good. But he said I mustn't talk about that," she added, with a sudden realization that Josie was regarding her curiously. "Abe an' me's chums, an' what he says is between us. P'raps he was only jokin', 'bout gettin' rich. Abe's a great joker, anyhow." ...

— Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls • Edith Van Dyne (AKA L. Frank Baum)

... American joke in England. Hogan says th' diff'rence between an American joke an' an English joke is th' place to laugh. In an American joke ye laugh just afther th' point if at all, but in an English joke ye laugh ayether befure th' point or afther th' decease iv th' joker. Th' ambassadure hopes to inthrajooce a cross iv th' two that ye don't laugh at at all that will be suited to th' English market. His expeeriments so far ...

— Observations by Mr. Dooley • Finley Peter Dunne

... have had a pretty fine-looking farm here thirty years or so ago," I continued, "when he brought his wife to it. This barn was new then. But he was a ne'er-do-well, with nothing to be said in his favor, unless you admit his fame as a practical joker. Strange how the ne'er-do-well is often equipped with an extravagant sense of humor! Turner had a considerable retinue among the riffraff boys of the neighborhood, who made this barn a noisy rendezvous and followed his hints in much whimsical mischief. ...

— Humorous Ghost Stories • Dorothy Scarborough

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