jokes 1 of 2

noun

plural of joke
1
as in laughs
something said or done to cause laughter he was known for his hilarious jokes

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in parodies
a poor, insincere, or insulting imitation of something her rendition of the national anthem is a joke

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in fools
a person or thing that is made fun of having lost his looks and his voice years ago, these days he's just a show business joke and fodder for late-night comedy

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

jokes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of joke
1
as in kids
to make jokes he was known for his ability to joke about his lack of anything resembling a social life

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2
as in teases
to make fun of in a good-natured way oh, don't get offended, I was just joking you

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of jokes
Noun
The innuendo only encouraged the bidding — and the riding jokes — with two guests ultimately taking the experience at $120,000 each. — Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 11 Sep. 2026 In reality, only Bullock manages to fully land the jokes written for her. — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026 Park takes a different route, relying on jokes and situations that can only happen on the page, which makes Personal Days a very special novel. — James Folta, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026 Brown and Martin each wrote part of the new song, while Martin and Helms came up with new jokes to replace the old-timey ones from the Stanleys’ bit. — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2026 Some classmates resented her and accused her of making up her family's loss ‒ or worse, made jokes about it, or engaged in conspiracy theories about what happened. — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026 There are the old-timers who have been cracking jokes on stage since before Gen Zers were born, including Marc Maron, Chelsea Handler and Martin Lawrence. — Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 9 Sep. 2026 Many speculated this was her unofficial response to the ongoing jokes. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 8 Sep. 2026 But she's also gotten backlash for some of her comments, including lengthy jokes about the non-binary community. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026
Verb
Johnson jokes, miming a phone to her ear as Cherkovskiy puts his head in hands. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026 When the dog doesn’t return, someone jokes that maybe it’s gone to see the new Rin Tin Tin movie. — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026 Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University (of no relation to the candidate), sometimes jokes that Roy Cooper is like Mister Rogers, if Mister Rogers carried a switchblade. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026 Another officer jokes about the details being in a book one day. — Taylor Romine, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026 Chris Branaman, 53, jokes that his retirement will be spent as a Walmart greeter. — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026 The bride jokes that everyone was so excited to celebrate that the party almost took them out. — Shelby Wax, Vogue, 14 Aug. 2026 Creighton jokes, explaining that making the film accessible to people is far more interesting to her than some sort of contrived celebrity impact campaign. — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026 Montana jokes as a wide smile peeks out from under his beard. — Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jokes
  1. laughs
  2. parodies
  3. fools
  4. kids
  5. teases
  6. gags
  7. caricatures
  8. targets
Noun
  • Again, the things of life, the ups and downs, the laughs and the tears — this is Mike Leigh at his most humane and heartwarming in a film that seems to be about nothing really, but the universal truth of it all is about everything.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Having a bunch of huge favorites means one of them is about to see its entire hopeful offseason culminate in immediate disaster as everyone points and laughs.
    — Jason Kirk, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of laughs
Noun
  • His high-water mark was without a doubt the United Way commercial, one of the best commercial parodies of the last 25 years.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The show was a phenomenon that continues to inspire copycats and parodies; Hansen emerged as an icon for some, and a meme for others.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of parodies
Noun
  • Some want to live vicariously through them, while others joke about the poor fools who fell for their tactics.
    — Owen Carry, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Pace, skill, a vicious shot, the ability to make opposition defenders look like fools.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of fools
Verb
  • What everyday skills should kids practice before the first week of school?
    — Ashley Lynch, Kansas City Star, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Running under the surface of the film is the anxiety that kids his age are lucky to secure any job, even one as low-paying and exploitative as Erika’s studio assistant.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
Definition of kids
Verb
  • The film teases a more intimate connection between the pair throughout but frustratingly walks back from advancing this development as anything more than a tantalizing possibility.
    — Marshall Shaffer, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Setting the story in 1990 — already up to early 1991 by midseason — teases certain upcoming historical signposts, especially with tensions with the police already simmering.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of teases
Noun
  • Clever and snappy, fresh and silly, a winning combination of classic Looney Tunes gags and contemporary concerns (the press notes mention many influences including, no joke, The Insider).
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
  • But there’s more than gags here; the episode also delves into the gang’s unease with their changing lives, as well as the reservations everyone but Ted seems to have about his engagement to Stella (Sarah Chalke).
    — Erin Strecker, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of gags
Noun
  • The store pulled a children’s Halloween costume from its shelves Monday after widespread social media backlash over a garment that critics said evoked painful memories of racist minstrel caricatures.
    — Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026
  • There’s no outrageous violence or unpleasant caricatures, and the 157-minute runtime feels breezy.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of caricatures
Noun
  • The swarms can autonomously screen targets, identify camouflage, and determine target locations while building a broader picture of their surroundings.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Ukrainian forces struck eight Russian infrastructure targets supporting the war effort over the past 24 hours, including a refinery in the Yamalo-Nenets region and a port in Dagestan, Zelenskyy said Thursday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of targets

Browse Nearby Words

jokers
jokes
jokester
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Cite this Entry

“Jokes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jokes. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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