JOKER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does joker mean? 

• JOKER (noun)
  The noun JOKER has 4 senses:

1. a person who enjoys telling or playing jokes

2. a person who does something thoughtless or annoying

3. an inconspicuous clause in a document or bill that affects its meaning in a way that is not immediately apparent

4. a playing card that is usually printed with a picture of a jester

  Familiarity information: JOKER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• JOKER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who enjoys telling or playing jokes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

joker; jokester

Hypernyms ("joker" is a kind of...):

comedian; comic (a professional performer who tells jokes and performs comical acts)

Derivation:

joke (act in a funny or teasing way)

joke (tell a joke; speak humorously)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who does something thoughtless or annoying

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

joker; turkey

Context example:

some joker is blocking the driveway

Hypernyms ("joker" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An inconspicuous clause in a document or bill that affects its meaning in a way that is not immediately apparent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

when I demanded my money he showed me the joker in the contract

Hypernyms ("joker" is a kind of...):

article; clause (a separate section of a legal document (as a statute or contract or will))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A playing card that is usually printed with a picture of a jester

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("joker" is a kind of...):

playing card (one of a pack of cards that are used to play card games)

 Context examples 

"Unless we have come upon a primitive practical joker," Summerlee suggested, "which I should think would be one of the most elementary developments of man."

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

‘What, be driven out of our own house by a practical joker?’ said I. ‘Why, we should have the whole county laughing at us.’

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An audacious challenge which embraced them one and all, without regard to size or age, could hardly be regarded otherwise than as a joke—but it was a joke which might be a dear one for the joker.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was a great jest of his, I recollect, to pretend that he couldn't keep his teeth from chattering, whenever mention was made of an Alguazill in connexion with the adventures of Gil Blas; and I remember that when Gil Blas met the captain of the robbers in Madrid, this unlucky joker counterfeited such an ague of terror, that he was overheard by Mr. Creakle, who was prowling about the passage, and handsomely flogged for disorderly conduct in the bedroom.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)