joker
/ˈd͡ʒəʊkə/
"joker" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“joker” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,567 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,567
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who makes jokes.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | joker |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒəʊkə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,567 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “joker” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for joker is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒəʊkə/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,567 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for joker, with forms such as "jjoker", "jkoer", and "joekr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "jor", "Jose", "jour", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From joke + -er, but in the sense of a playing card possibly by alteration of Jucker, also the origin of the name of the card game euchre. The correct English form is joker, spelled J-O-K-E-R.
Definition
- 1A person who makes jokes.
- 2A funny person.
- 3A jester.
- 4A playing card that features a picture of a joker (that is, a jester) and that may be used as a wild card in some card games.
- 5Something kept in reserve that can be used to gain an advantage; a trump card.
- 6An unspecified, vaguely disreputable person.
- 7An unspecified, vaguely disreputable person.
- 8A man.
- 9A clause in a contract that undermines its apparent provisions.
- 10A friendly unit that acts as a suspected hostile unit in a military excercise.
- 11The option, in a pub quiz, of selecting one particular round in which one's team will score double points.
- 12A fairy chess piece that moves like the last piece that was moved by the opponent.
Etymology
From joke + -er, but in the sense of a playing card possibly by alteration of Jucker, also the origin of the name of the card game euchre.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: jjoker,jkoer,joekr,jokerr,jokker,jokre,ojker
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of joker - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “joker”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is J-O-K-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈd͡ʒəʊkə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “jor” - see the side-by-side comparison. joker vs jor
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.