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

Monday’s win moved the Nationals back into a tie for the final wild card spot. — Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 23 June 2026

Orthodox voting bloc looms as potential big factor A major wild card in both the primary and the general election is Rockland County's large Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish population, which has enough voters to easily swing a race if its various voting blocs are aligned. — Chris McKenna, USA Today, 22 June 2026

Now sitting at 40-38, Miami is just half a game behind the San Diego Padres for the National League’s final wild card spot. — Tyler Carmona, Miami Herald, 21 June 2026

Serena Williams will play singles at Wimbledon after accepting a wild card invitation, the All England Club announced Sunday. — CBS News, 21 June 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