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
: 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
Suspend your disbelief early, as the film (with a script from Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese, and Seth Grahame-Smith, based on a story by Eric Warren Singer and Lesslie) opens with a real wild card.
—
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 11 Nov. 2025
New York wasn't able to hold onto the final wild card spot in the National League as the Cincinnati Reds clinched the postseason berth over New York on the final day of the regular season.
—Zach Pressnell, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025
With a very forgiving schedule ahead, the question is whether the Dolphins can get to the fringes of wild card contention by mid-December.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 9 Nov. 2025
Woodward was also named to the team as a wild card, even though there were European players higher than him in the rankings.
—Jeremy Herb, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wild card
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Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 11 Nov. 2025
New York wasn't able to hold onto the final wild card spot in the National League as the Cincinnati Reds clinched the postseason berth over New York on the final day of the regular season.
—Zach Pressnell, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025
With a very forgiving schedule ahead, the question is whether the Dolphins can get to the fringes of wild card contention by mid-December.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 9 Nov. 2025
Woodward was also named to the team as a wild card, even though there were European players higher than him in the rankings.
—Jeremy Herb, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wild card
Cite this Entry
“Wild card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20card. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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