the Joker
- proper noun
- [Smith]: In The Dark Knight, you are presented the Joker, who is a different Joker than we've ever seen before.
- Batman and the Joker
- villains like the Joker
- the Joker in Arkham
And I mean, I guess Joaquin's playing the Joker, but Wendy's the one that's clowning.
- And I mean, I guess Joaquin's playing the Joker, but Wendy's the one that's clowning.
- Their smile is more like the Joker than a warm parent welcoming you into the fold.
- You know, if you remember, there was a scene in The Dark Knight and the Joker said well.
- I mean the the Joker is the antithesis of a villain.
- So being the Joker today is more profitable than it's ever been.
- There, that didn't go well, but I got the Joker.
- But maybe you're just, you kind of like the Joker, right?
- So DC's booth has had all the Joker masks from the dark.
- Yeah, I actually play Joaquin Phoenix in the Joker.
- I got them all off of YouTube, and then I I went to the Joker in Little Rock, and his name's Kev.
Examples
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Our police have rounded up all of the Joker's men.
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My favorite of all is when the Joker plays chicken with the Batcycle on the streets of Gotham.
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First of all, it's a play on the Joker's "Why So Serious?" in the Dark Knight movie.
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Batman has a history of being especially on edge around the Joker.
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In that last movie with the Joker, where he dressed up as the nurse and went after Harvey.
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With just a little makeup and green hair, you could fill the role of the Joker from Batman!
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I'll quote the Joker: If you're good at something, never do it for free.
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In the latest film, the Joker delivered some of the most memorable lines as he faced Batman.
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Children laughed as the clown at the party acted like the Joker, showcasing his silly antics.
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The Joker's bright purple suit and manic laughter make him one of comic history's most iconic villains.
Synonyms
A performer who wears bright clothes and makes people laugh
A person who tells jokes to make people laugh
A person who likes to tell jokes and make others laugh
A person who plays funny tricks on other people
A person in a group who often makes others laugh with funny stories or actions
Surface Forms
Morphology
the + joker
The constituents 'the' + 'joker' transparently yield the literal idea of a person who tells jokes, so a B1 learner who knows those words could infer a humorous or unpredictable person. However, the specific referent—the famous DC Comics supervillain named 'The Joker'—is a culturally specific proper name and cannot be derived from the constituent meanings alone, making the full, encyclopedic sense opaque without prior exposure.
Etymology
The Joker comes from the image of the joker playing card, a 'wild card' that can change the game. The comic's clown-like 'villain' uses tricks and chaos, so calling someone The Joker means they behave oddly, play tricks, or are 'unpredictable'.