in-joke

noun

ˈin-ˌjōk How to pronounce in-joke (audio)
-ˈjōk
: a joke for or about a select group of people

Examples of in-joke in a Sentence

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.
Now, reports suggest that schoolchildren have adopted the term as an in-joke, often shouting it out in classrooms to the frustration of teachers everywhere. Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Oct. 2025 The façade, designed by Redding’s sister, May Redding, is a riot of textures, details, and in-jokes in the same Thai-meets-rococo style that makes Thai Diner feel so immersive and fun. Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025 Advertisement Reservation Dogs was one of television’s rare masterpieces, woven from a lifetime’s worth of observations and obsessions, existential struggles and in-jokes, and shot through with a sparkling thread of spirituality. Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025 The name of the tool is a bit of a physicist’s in-joke. Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 17 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for in-joke

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of in-joke was in 1964

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Cite this Entry

“In-joke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in-joke. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

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