- something said or done to make people laugh synonym joke
- He laughed uproariously at his own jest.
Word Originlate Middle English: from earlier gest, from Old French geste, from Latin gesta ‘actions, exploits’, from gerere ‘do’. The original sense was ‘exploit, heroic deed’, hence ‘a narrative of such deeds’ (originally in verse); later the term denoted an idle tale, hence a joke (mid 16th cent.).Want to learn more?
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Idioms
See jest in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryin jest
- as a joke
- The remark was made half in jest.
- ‘Many a true word is spoken in jest,’ thought Rosie (= people often say things as a joke that are actually true).
Check pronunciation:
jest