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

Another, known as the Game of Hal Prince, or Producer, gamified the business of Broadway, with points allotted for good reviews and wild cards that ribbed Sondheim’s contemporaries. —Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2025

Season 28’s live shows kick off on Monday December 15 with two wild card finalists revealed before the top six artists perform a contemporary and classic song in front of the coaches. —Peter White, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2025

Meanwhile, Florida is just three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their 35 points for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 13 Dec. 2025

The Strength of Victory tiebreaker is the fourth used by the NFL to determine wild card teams if three or more teams have the same record. —Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 11 Dec. 2025

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