wild card

noun

1

: an unknown or unpredictable factor

2

: one picked to fill a leftover playoff or tournament berth after regularly qualifying competitors have all been determined

3

usually wildcard

ˈwī(-ə)l(d)-ˌkärd 

: a symbol (such as ? or *) used in a keyword database search to represent the presence of zero, one, or more than one unspecified characters

Examples of wild card in a Sentence

The joker is a wild card.

Taxes are the wild card in this election.

The team made it into the play-offs as the wild card.

Recent Examples on the Web

Another wild card on pricing is Trump's executive order released April 15 that aims to lower drug prices. —Ken Alltucker, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025

His style is hard-hitting, and that’s part of what makes a match between him and Goldberg a wild card. —Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025

The one true wild card in the entire show is Davis’ ex-wife Paula Jo (Meta Golding), who comes tornadoing into town in a silver Porsche, donning the highest-of-heeled Louboutins on her feet. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2025

Winnipeg, which has clinched the top spot in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history, will host the second wild card finisher in the opening round of the playoffs. —Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 13 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

wild card, playing card with arbitrarily determined value

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wild card

• asgard
• backyard
• barnyard
• blackguard
• bombard
• brickyard
• canard
• churchyard
• coastguard
• courtyard
• debarred
• diehard