jape

1 of 2

verb

ˈjāp

japed; japing

Synonyms of jape

intransitive verb

: to say or do something jokingly or mockingly

transitive verb

: to make mocking fun of

japer

ˈjā-pər

noun

japery

ˈjā-p(ə-)rē

noun

jape

2 of 2

noun

: something designed to arouse amusement or laughter: such as

: gibe

: an amusing literary or dramatic production

a jape that would be okay as a sophomore class play—John Simon

Did you know?

Jape mysteriously appeared in the English language during the 14th century and was adopted by literary folks, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, as a word meaning both "to trick" and "to jeer." It was also used, however, with the meanings "to seduce (someone)" or "to have sexual intercourse." This ambiguity forced writers to think twice about using "jape" in fear of misinterpretation. Ultimately, the word was avoided by respectable writers, and by the end of the 16th century it had fallen into disuse. But this four-letter word was not completely forgotten. It got its second chance when 19th-century writers began using its "jeer" meaning again - leaving its carnal meaning in oblivion.

Examples of jape in a Sentence

Verb the characters in Oscar Wilde's plays jape with a readiness and sophistication that is rarely, if ever, encountered in real life Noun by the standards of today's no-holds-barred satire, Will Rogers' homespun japes about politicians seem awfully gentle

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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

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