wild card

noun

1
: an unknown or unpredictable factor
2
: one picked to fill a leftover playoff or tournament berth after regularly qualifying competitors have all been determined
3
usually wildcard : a symbol (such as ? or *) used in a keyword database search to represent the presence of zero, one, or more than one unspecified characters

Examples of wild card in a Sentence

The joker is a wild card. Taxes are the wild card in this election. The team made it into the play-offs as the wild card.
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.
New England Patriots The Patriots, after a busy offseason, are in prime position to also compete for a wild card spot. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2025 Algorithmic volatility is another wild card—just look at the 2010 Flash Crash when high-frequency trading erased nearly $1 trillion in minutes. Roomy Khan, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025 The tournament sparked a wave of excitement when it was announced that Venus Williams, sister of Serena Williams, had received a wild card entry to play last month. Andrew Torgan, CNN, 2 Mar. 2025 That’s why each month our Feel-Good Food Plan—with delicious recipes and a few wild cards—is hosted by someone new. Urmila Ramakrishnan, Bon Appétit, 1 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for wild card

Word History

Etymology

wild card, playing card with arbitrarily determined value

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of wild card was in 1971

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wild card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20card. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.

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