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

Pittsburgh is in the thick of the race for the third wild card with Miami and Arizona. — Tim Britton, New York Times, 22 July 2026

Williams, 44, is not on the Entry List but could still receive a wild card next month. — Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

The Cubs, who kick off the second half Friday night versus the Twins at Wrigley Field, currently hold the top spot for the National League wild card, a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies. — Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2026

The Sharks nearly made the playoffs last season, but, for a variety of reasons, faltered down the stretch and finished four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the Western Conference’s second and final wild card spot. — Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 16 July 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