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

Without Carmella there as a potential wild card, the ladies arrive in Tokyo and are forced to retreat to their familiar shticks. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026

Since Cashman got rid of Joe Girardi for Boone, the Yankees have never advanced past a division series as a wild card. — Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

The Rays clinched the 2026 American League East with a victory over the New York Yankees in the Bronx, the most famous franchise in the sport relegated to a wild card berth. — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026

Sun, who was given a wild card entry by tournament organizers and was making her WTA Tour debut, appeared distraught after the loss. — CBS News, 6 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