Meanings
plural practical jokes
- A playful trick done for amusement to the detriment of someone else.
The class put a whoopee cushion on the teacher's chair as a practical joke.
1 more example
This is a street of elegant stucco terraced houses, two of which (numbers 23 and 24) straddled the mouth of the canyon. [...] they were knocked down and replaced with fake houses [...]. So began 150 years of practical jokes, with coal merchants sending young apprentices to deliver coal to the façades, or letters addressed to Mr N. O. Body, 24 Leinster Gardens. (There is no letterbox).
2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 58
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 惡作劇 /恶作剧
- 惡作劇 /恶作剧 (èzuòjù)something done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Czech kanadský žert
- kanadský žertsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Dutch practical joke
- practical jokesomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Esperanto petolo, ŝerco
- petolosomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- ŝercosomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Finnish jekku, kepponen
- jekkusomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- kepponensomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- kujesomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- pilasomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- käytännön pilasomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
French facétie, farce
- facétiesomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- farcesomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- traquenardsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
German Streich
- Streichsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Hungarian ugratás, csíny
- ugratássomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- csínysomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- heccsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- rossz viccsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- otromba tréfasomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- durva tréfasomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- borsot tör az orra alásomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Icelandic brek
- breksomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Japanese 悪戯
- 悪戯something done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Korean 짓궂은 장난
- 짓궂은 장난 (jitgujeun jangnan)something done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Polish figiel, psikus
- figielsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- psikussomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Portuguese pegadinha, brincadeira
- pegadinhasomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- brincadeirasomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Romanian farsă
- farsăsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Russian ро́зыгрыш
- ро́зыгрыш (rózygryš)something done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Spanish broma pesada
- broma pesadasomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Swedish spratt, skämt
- sprattsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
- skämtsomething done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Yiddish שפּיצל
- שפּיצל (shpitsl)something done for amusement to the detriment of someone else
Cite this entry
practical joke. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/practical%20joke
“practical joke.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/practical%20joke. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “practical joke,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/practical%20joke.
Source: practical joke on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.