as in prank
a playful or mischievous act intended as a joke
friends had left the risqué message on his voice mail as a practical joke
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Recent Examples of practical joke
For anyone who has ever struggled to learn the notoriously difficult Ottoman language—sometimes described as a practical joke played on historians—forcing it on a generation of schoolchildren might seem like the quickest way for Erdogan to destroy his popularity (and the Ottoman Empire’s as well).
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Nick Danforth, Foreign Affairs, 6 Jan. 2015
Each birth anniversary, there’s a well-meaning but hurtful practical joke.
—Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
Each birth anniversary, there's a well-meaning but hurtful practical joke.
—Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
Ancient Romans and Celts celebrated a festival of practical jokes and pranks around the time of the March equinox.
—Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 18 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for practical joke 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for practical joke
Noun
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After the clip went viral, many Instagram users lauded the creativity of the prank, leading to more than 100 comments so far.Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024
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One of the rare sequels that does the original justice, Home Alone 2 raises the stakes with more pranks, more laughs, and a more classic Christmas setting.Janey Tracey, EW.com, 29 Nov. 2024
Noun
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There’s also Image Wand which does similar pic-making tricks in the Notes app and Genmoji, the custom emoji characters which are also based on prompts from you.David Phelan, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
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Our fee-avoidance is more than a few money-saving tricks.Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 6 Dec. 2024
Noun
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At the forefront of this revolution is Saurabh Kapoor, a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer at Amazon and a veteran in the software testing industry with 14+ years of experience with leading tech giants Adobe Systems, Capital One, and Oracle, who is not just embracing this change but leading it.Chris Gallagher, USA TODAY, 29 Nov. 2024
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The wholesome, family-friendly experience could include a punch machine and pillow fighting lessons from the pros in a real-world setting.Candace Oehler, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2024
Noun
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As was the case with the season premiere, there’s an unfortunate and inevitable imbalance in this week’s episode between the scenes of Juliette’s adventures in Silo 17 and, well, everything else.Noel Murray, Vulture, 29 Nov. 2024
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Pull a hot air balloon, and you’re destined to live a life of adventure and travel.Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 29 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near practical joke
Cite this Entry
“Practical joke.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/practical%20joke. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
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