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

Some had thought Williams might receive a wild-card entry for the Open singles tournament, but the final wild card instead went to another American in Sofia Kenin. — Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 25 Aug. 2026

Come 2026, Errani and Vavassori once again needed a wild card to enter the main draw. — James Hansen, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026

The Phillies entered play Monday on a nine-game winning streak, in position for one of the National League wild cards. — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026

Tampa Bay had lost seven of its last 10, but never trailed against the Tigers, who have lost six straight and nine of 10 to fall way behind in the race for the final AL wild card. — Dave Hogg, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Aug. 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