dad joke

noun

plural dad jokes

informal

: a wholesome joke of the type said to be told by fathers with a punchline that is often an obvious or predictable pun or play on words and usually judged to be endearingly corny or unfunny

He's seen the annual event grow from an Austin oddity to a national event and watched dad jokes, of which puns are the most obvious example, take hold in the millennial consciousness; a dad-joke-devoted Reddit board boasts more than 250,000 members.

—Peter Rubin

The dad jokes really started pouring in during the later years of Obama's presidency, when the annual turkey pardoning became fertile grounds for embarrassing the now teenage Malia and Sasha. And what better way to do that than with some corny puns about turkeys named Mac and Cheese?

—Mashable

Examples of dad joke in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In short, think of Franklin’s letter to his daughter as an early dad joke. —Kendra Nordin Beato, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Nov. 2024

Watch The Scream Team on Disney+ 15 of 38 LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales In typical LEGO style, Terrifying Tales lampoons classic horror movies with tons of dad jokes and cheesy puns. —Keith Langston, People.com, 26 Oct. 2024

Here are members from nine bands the legendary drummer has played with discussing their favorite master of dad jokes (and Willard’s thoughts on his time with each band). —Josh Chesler, SPIN, 6 Aug. 2024

Initially programmed by Rain’s late father to do what’s best for her (and tell dad jokes), Andy’s new directive becomes finishing the mission for the company. —Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined above