as in joke
something said or done to cause laughter
by the standards of today's no-holds-barred satire, Will Rogers' homespun japes about politicians seem awfully gentle
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in to joke
to make jokes
the characters in Oscar Wilde's plays jape with a readiness and sophistication that is rarely, if ever, encountered in real life
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of jape
Marianne Eloise, Vulture, 11 Dec. 2024
The curators know who the target audience is: people who still get a kick out of decades-old barf japes.
—Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024
This one happens to run on digital blood spatter, bootleg CGI and japes about genitalia, but the animus behind these films is nostalgia for the kind of pounding marquee movies of the 1980s and ‘90s, when the men were muscly and the misogyny was cool with everyone.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023
But as the capital merry-go-round spun its peccadilloes, scandals and ballyhooed promises, his jaunty baritone restored order with bipartisan japes and irreverent songs to deflate the preening ego and the Big Idea. Presidents from Eisenhower to Trump caught the flak.
—Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023
Characterizing universes in which this kind of informaiotn transmission can take place might be a useful jape for astrobiologists with time on their hands.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2023
Director Aaron Posner’s organizing notion proves far better suited to a short skit than a full 150 minutes of expository twists — and antiquated japes.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 22 Jan. 2020
The coffee table part is a funny jape about the design’s similarity to a piece of midcentury furniture, an undulating shape raised on legs; but the kunsthalle part is more telling.
—Christopher Knight, latimes.com, 9 July 2019
Local guffaw nuts can hit up the annual jape show that is the Orlando Comedy Festival (6 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday, Hilton Garden Inn at SeaWorld, 6850 Westwood Blvd. in Orlando, $20-$35, orlandocomedyfestival.com).
—Trevor Fraser, orlandosentinel.com, 19 June 2019
wsj.com, 12 May 2023
Noun
What follows is a Die Hard–style jape that, spoiler, ends in the entire Lonely Island being shot and killed.
—Marianne Eloise, Vulture, 11 Dec. 2024
The curators know who the target audience is: people who still get a kick out of decades-old barf japes.
—Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024
This one happens to run on digital blood spatter, bootleg CGI and japes about genitalia, but the animus behind these films is nostalgia for the kind of pounding marquee movies of the 1980s and ‘90s, when the men were muscly and the misogyny was cool with everyone.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023
But as the capital merry-go-round spun its peccadilloes, scandals and ballyhooed promises, his jaunty baritone restored order with bipartisan japes and irreverent songs to deflate the preening ego and the Big Idea. Presidents from Eisenhower to Trump caught the flak.
—Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023
Characterizing universes in which this kind of informaiotn transmission can take place might be a useful jape for astrobiologists with time on their hands.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2023
Director Aaron Posner’s organizing notion proves far better suited to a short skit than a full 150 minutes of expository twists — and antiquated japes.
—Peter Marks, Washington Post, 22 Jan. 2020
The coffee table part is a funny jape about the design’s similarity to a piece of midcentury furniture, an undulating shape raised on legs; but the kunsthalle part is more telling.
—Christopher Knight, latimes.com, 9 July 2019
Local guffaw nuts can hit up the annual jape show that is the Orlando Comedy Festival (6 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday, Hilton Garden Inn at SeaWorld, 6850 Westwood Blvd. in Orlando, $20-$35, orlandocomedyfestival.com).
—Trevor Fraser, orlandosentinel.com, 19 June 2019
Verb
He is reported to have participated in a pestilential online gun culture, replete with tasteless japing about mass shootings.
—wsj.com, 12 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jape
Noun
-
Trump sued Maher in 2013 for $5 million after the comedian made a crass joke about his mother and an orangutan.—
Steff Danielle Thomas,
The Hill,
19 Apr. 2025
-
While Instagram and TikTok chase global virality, Fizz leans hard into hyper relevance: the inside joke, the anonymous confession, the econ final everyone just bombed.—
Ian Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The big picture: Parody accounts from Mount Rainier and Mount Hood are trading playful taunts and humorous one-upmanship, comparing body counts and jesting about whether size matters.—
Christine Clarridge,
Axios,
28 Feb. 2025
-
While Black jested about the possibility of a sequel in his video, the concept has come up in the past.—
Tommy McArdle,
Peoplemag,
26 Sep. 2024
Noun
-
That sort of showboating elicits laughs from TV audiences, partly because today's younger shoppers are spending less on pricey goods and more on luxury experiences.—
Marco della Cava,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
-
Sharing good laughs goes a long way to strengthening connections and relationships.—
Liz Guthridge,
Forbes.com,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Jape.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jape. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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