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

While the three other wild card series ended in two-game sweeps, the matchup between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies has delivered exceptional postseason drama. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026

This makes the ongoing El Niño somewhat of a food supply wild card. — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026

This time, Harper’s fielding miscue helped the Braves take a two-run lead in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NL wild card series. — Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Rachel could have a similar wild card effect on the overall weather pattern in a week’s time. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 1 Oct. 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