jest
verb/dʒest/
/dʒest/
[intransitive, transitive] (formal or humorous)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they jest | /dʒest/ /dʒest/ |
| he / she / it jests | /dʒests/ /dʒests/ |
| past simple jested | /ˈdʒestɪd/ /ˈdʒestɪd/ |
| past participle jested | /ˈdʒestɪd/ /ˈdʒestɪd/ |
| -ing form jesting | /ˈdʒestɪŋ/ /ˈdʒestɪŋ/ |
- jest (about something) | + speech to say things that are not serious or true, especially in order to make somebody laugh synonym joke
- Would I jest about such a thing?
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.).Definitions on the go
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jest