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

The Columbus Blue Jackets entered the day in the Eastern Conference’s final wild card spot with 88 points. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2026

Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves for the Sharks (34-31-7), who have 75 points — tied with Seattle and two behind Nashville for the final Western Conference wild card. —ABC News, 31 Mar. 2026

The Sharks entered Monday in 12th place in the Western Conference with 73 points, four points back of the Predators for the second wild card spot. —Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026

Are your goals encountering a wild card? —Usa Today, USA Today, 29 Mar. 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