jocular

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UK/ˈd͡ʒɒkjʊlə/US/ˈd͡ʒɑkjəlɚ/

adjective

Humorous, amusing or joking.

“He was in a jocular mood all day.”

UncommonScrabble 16

Meanings

adjectivejocular (comparative more jocular, superlative most jocular)

comparative more jocular · superlative most jocular

  1. Humorous, amusing or joking.

    He was in a jocular mood all day.

    4 more examples

    All we had was a short and jocular conversation.

    From the tone of the speaker, the last words might be understood to be jocular.

    1865, Horatio Alger, “chapter IV”, in 'Paul Prescott's Charge

    Sometimes he would notice it, pat it, call it half-mocking, half-jocular names, and so make it caper with extraordinary delight.

    1896, H. G. Wells, “chapter 15”, in The Island of Dr. Moreau

    Then papa began to get very tired of Jones, and fidgeted and finally said, with jocular irony, that Jones had better stay all night, they could give him a shake-down.

    1910, Stephen Leacock, The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones

    Synonyms: jokey, silly, joculous

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveHumorous, amusing or joking.

antonym(s) of “humorous”

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivecharacterized by jokes and good humor

adverbwith humor

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latiniocularis
  2. Englishjocular

From Latin iocularis, from ioculus (“a little jest”), diminutive of iocus (“a jest”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian духовит, шеговит
  • духовит (duhovit)humorous, amusing, joking
  • шеговит (šegovit)humorous, amusing, joking
Chinese Mandarin 詼諧 /诙谐, 打趣的
  • 詼諧 /诙谐 (huīxié, huīxie)humorous, amusing, joking
  • 打趣的humorous, amusing, joking
Czech žertovný, humorný
  • žertovnýhumorous, amusing, joking
  • humornýhumorous, amusing, joking
  • šprýmovnýhumorous, amusing, joking
Dutch schertsend, grappend
  • schertsendhumorous, amusing, joking
  • grappendhumorous, amusing, joking
Esperanto ŝerca, ŝercema
  • ŝercahumorous, amusing, joking
  • ŝercemahumorous, amusing, joking
Finnish hilpeä, leikkisä
  • hilpeähumorous, amusing, joking
  • leikkisähumorous, amusing, joking
  • vitsikäshumorous, amusing, joking
French facétieux, amusant
  • facétieuxhumorous, amusing, joking
  • amusanthumorous, amusing, joking
  • humoristiquehumorous, amusing, joking
German scherzhaft, spaßig
  • scherzhafthumorous, amusing, joking
  • spaßighumorous, amusing, joking
  • witzighumorous, amusing, joking
Hebrew מְבַדֵּחַ
  • מְבַדֵּחַ (m'vadéakh)humorous, amusing, joking
Hungarian tréfás
  • tréfáshumorous, amusing, joking
Japanese 剽軽
  • 剽軽 (hyōkin)humorous, amusing, joking
Māori whakakata
  • whakakatahumorous, amusing, joking
Polish żartobliwy
  • żartobliwyhumorous, amusing, joking
Portuguese jocoso
  • jocosohumorous, amusing, joking
Russian шутли́вый, шу́точный
  • шутли́вый (šutlívyj)humorous, amusing, joking
  • шу́точный (šútočnyj)humorous, amusing, joking
Slovak žartovný
  • žartovnýhumorous, amusing, joking
Spanish humorístico, jocoso
  • humorísticohumorous, amusing, joking
  • jocosohumorous, amusing, joking
Swedish skämtsam, munter
  • skämtsamhumorous, amusing, joking
  • munterhumorous, amusing, joking
  • gladhumorous, amusing, joking
  • lustighumorous, amusing, joking
  • humoristiskhumorous, amusing, joking
Ukrainian жартівли́вий
  • жартівли́вий (žartivlývyj)humorous, amusing, joking
Welsh ffraeth, ysmala
  • ffraethhumorous, amusing, joking
  • ysmalahumorous, amusing, joking
Cite this entry
APA

jocular. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jocular

MLA

“jocular.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jocular. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jocular,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jocular.

Source: jocular on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.