wildcard
noun, verb
wildcard is a noun meaning “A character that takes the place of any other character or string that is not known or specified” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled W-I-L-D-C-A-R-D and has 2 syllables, and it appears 1.5 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of wildcard is wildcards.
What does wildcard mean?
noun
- 1
A character that takes the place of any other character or string that is not known or specified.
- 2
An uncontrolled or unpredictable element.
- 3
An element, often deliberately concealed, which is withheld for contingency.
- 4
Alternative form of wild card.
- 5
A letter or symbol that substitutes for a generic or poorly identified sound, for example capital C for any or some consonant, or capital V for any or some vowel.
verb
- 1
To replace or supplement with a wildcard character to allow matching against a range of possible values.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce wildcard?
Wildcard has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-wildcard.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wildcard
- wildcards plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- wildcarding participle, present
- wildcarded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is wildcard?
Wildcard appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with wildcard
Also written: wild-card (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Wildcard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | joker , électron libre |
| German | Platzhalter |
| Portuguese | coringa, curinga |
| Spanish | comodín |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wildcard come from?
From wild + card.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).