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

During Monday’s game in Milwaukee, the Philadelphia Phillies (81-63) notched a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park, giving the Phillies a half-game lead over the Cubs (81-64) for the NL’s top wild card. — Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Andrés Giménez hit a tying solo homer in the ninth for the Blue Jays (72-73), who remained a game behind Cleveland for the last American League wild card. — ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026

Texas trails by two games in the races for the AL West lead and the league's final wild card. — Arkansas Online, 7 Sep. 2026

Jarren Duran hit his 20th homer, a solo shot, to spark a four-run second inning for Boston, which improved to an MLB-best 34-17 since the All-Star break and closed to two games behind the Yankees for the American League’s top-wild card spot. — Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 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