different between jolly vs joker

English

Etymology

From Middle English joli, jolif (“merry, cheerful”), from Old French joli, jolif (“merry, joyful”)It is uncertain whether the Old French word is from Old Norse jól ("a midwinter feast, Yule", hence "fest-ive") , in which case, equivalent to yule +? -ive; or ultimately from Latin gaude? (see etymology at joy). For the loss of final -f compare tardy, hasty, hussy, etc.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d??li/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d??li/
• Rhymes: -?li
• Hyphenation: jol?ly

Adjective

jolly (comparative jollier, superlative jolliest)

1. Full of merriment and high spirits; jovial; joyous; merry.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, "The Faerie Queene", Book I, Canot 2, xi-xii:

     "Full jolly Knight he seemed […] full large of limb and every joint / He was, and cared not for God or man a point."

   • 1815, William Wordsworth, "Hart-Leap Well," Part Second:

     "A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! / But something ails it now: the spot is curst. ..."

   • 1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., "The Stage Coach":

     […] he is swelled into jolly dimensions by frequent potations of malt liquors […]

2. (colloquial, dated) Splendid, excellent, pleasant.
   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 16:

     Jo silently notices how white and small her hand is and what a jolly servant she must be to wear such sparkling rings.

3. (informal) drunk

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

jolly (plural jollies)

1. (Britain, dated) A pleasure trip or excursion.
2. (slang, dated) A marine in the English navy.

   Synonym: joey

   • 1896, Rudyard Kipling, Soldier an' Sailor Too

     I'm a Jolly — 'Er Majesty's Jolly — soldier an' sailor too!

Adverb

jolly (comparative more jolly, superlative most jolly)

1. (Britain, dated) very, extremely
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 37:

     Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

Derived terms

• jolly well

Verb

jolly (third-person singular simple present jollies, present participle jollying, simple past and past participle jollied)

1. (transitive) To amuse or divert.

Derived terms

• jolly along

Translations

References

• Jolly in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 15, p. 495.

Italian

Etymology

From English jolly joker, an older name for the joker card in a deck of cards.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d???l.li/

Noun

jolly m (invariable)

1. (card games) joker
2. wild card

See also

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d???k?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d?o?k?/
• Rhymes: -??k?(r)

Noun

joker (plural jokers)

1. A person who makes jokes.
2. (slang) A funny person.
3. A jester.

   Synonyms: court jester, fool, jester

4. A 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.
5. An unspecified, vaguely disreputable person.

6. (New Zealand, colloquial) A man.
7. A clause in a contract that undermines its apparent provisions.
   • 1922, Farm Machinery and Equipment (page lxxxiii)

     Discussion of contracts and the many provisions contained therein led to a vote making it the sense of the convention that manufacturers should use a simple sales contract, free from jokers.

   • 1939, Canadian Parliament, Official Report of Debates, House of Commons (volume 218, page 858)

     Then, sir, on page 12 of the agreement there is a joker clause, which provides for payments in addition to the ten per cent, […]

   • 1942, Billboard (volume 54, number 41, page 5)

     Stone claimed that there was a Joker in the contract, one clause (No. 2) calling for two weeks' notice and another (No. 8) calling for payment on a par-day basis after the first two weeks.

   • 1958, Duncan Leroy Kennedy, Bill drafting (page 12)

     The object of these provisions is to prevent insertion of "jokers" or "sleepers" in bills and securing passage under the false color of the title.

Related terms

• joke

See also

• ????, ????, ????

Translations

See also

See also

• Wikipedia article on jokers (jesters)
• Wikipedia article on the joker (playing card)
• Wikipedia article on the Joker in Batman

Anagrams

• jerko

Danish

Etymology

From English joker.

Noun

joker

1. joker (playing card)

Declension

Further reading

• “joker” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From English joker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?jo?k?r/
• Rhymes: -o?k?r

Noun

joker m (plural jokers, diminutive jokertje n)

1. joker (playing card)
2. any wild card or similar, even in non-card games

Derived terms

• voor joker staan

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.k??/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /d?o.kœ?/, [d?o??.kœ?]

Noun

joker m (plural jokers)

1. (card games) joker
2. (computing) wildcard
3. (on a game show) lifeline
4. (Scrabble) blank tile

See also

Further reading

• “joker” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Polish

Alternative forms

• d?oker

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d???.k?r/

Noun

joker m anim

1. (card games) joker

Declension

Portuguese

Noun

joker m (plural jokers)

1. Alternative form of jóquer

See also

Romanian

Etymology

From French joker, English joker.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d??o.k?r/

Noun

joker m (plural jokeri)

1. (card games) joker

Declension