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

On Tuesday night, Sinner dispatched the French wild card Clément Tabur 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. —Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 27 May 2026

Walton, who received a wild card invitation from tournament organizers, beat Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. —ABC News, 26 May 2026

Cesium, in particular, is more of a wild card than once thought, often staying gaseous for much longer. —Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 24 May 2026

The big wild card is walk-up business on Saturday and Sunday. —Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 23 May 2026

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