jest
noun
[ dʒɛst ]
• a thing said or done for amusement; a joke.
• "he laughed uproariously at his own jest"
Similar:
joke,
witticism,
funny remark,
gag,
quip,
sally,
pun,
play on words,
bon mot,
crack,
wisecrack,
one-liner,
funny,
comeback,
repartee,
banter,
prank,
practical joke,
piece of mischief,
hoax,
trick,
jape,
leg-pull,
put-on,
lark,
dido,
in fun,
as a joke,
tongue in cheek,
playfully,
jokingly,
light-heartedly,
facetiously,
flippantly,
frivolously,
for a laugh,
to tease,
teasingly,
banteringly,
whimsically,
jest
verb
• speak in a joking way.
• "you jest, surely?"
Similar:
joke,
crack,
quip,
gag,
sally,
pun,
tell jokes,
crack jokes,
banter,
wisecrack,
fool,
fool about,
fool around,
play a prank,
play a practical joke,
tease,
hoax,
kid,
wind up,
have on,
pull someone's leg,
make a monkey out of,
pull someone's chain,
fun,
shuck,
Origin:
late Middle English: from earlier gest, from Old French geste, from Latin gesta ‘actions, exploits’, from gerere ‘do’. The original sense was ‘heroic deed’, hence ‘a narrative of such deeds’; later the term denoted an idle tale, hence a joke.
