# joke

> English word · Noun · IPA /d͡ʒəʊk/ · frequency rank #2,117

## Definitions
1. An amusing story.
2. Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.
3. The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one
4. A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.
5. Something that is far easier or far less challenging than expected.

## Etymology
From Latin iocus (“joke, jest, pastime”), from Proto-Italic *jokos (“word, (playful?) saying”), from Proto-Indo-European *yokos (“word, utterance”), from ultimate root Proto-Indo-European *yek- (“to speak, utter”) (of which distant cognates include Proto-Celtic *yextis (“language”) (Breton yezh (“language”) and Welsh iaith (“language”)) and German Beichte (“confession”)). Cognate with French jeu, Italian gioco, Portuguese jogo, Spanish juego, Romanian joc, English Yule, Danish Jule, Norwegian Bokmål Jul, Swedish Jul, and Norwegian Nynorsk jol.

## Easily confused with
- **joy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-joy)
- **Jon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jon)
- **Joo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-joo)
- **jot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jot)
- **jor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jor)
- **June** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-june)
- **Josh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-josh)
- **Jose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jose)
- **jong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jong)
- **Jude** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jude)
- **joys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-joys)
- **joss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-joss)
- **jolt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jolt)
- **Joni** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-joni)
- **jour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jour)
- **juve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-juve)
- **juke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-juke)
- **jute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jute)
- **Jove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jove)
- **Jones** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/joke-vs-jones)

## Common misspellings (5)
`jjoke`, `jkoe`, `joek`, `jokke`, `ojke`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/joke