冗 談(じょうだん)

じょうだん

noun

joke, jest

1. joke, jest, kidding

Something said or done for amusement; not meant to be taken seriously.

冗談(じょうだん)だよ！

I'm just kidding!

I told a joke and made everyone laugh.

I'm not kidding, it's true.

He's good at telling jokes and always lightens the mood.

I meant it as a joke, but I ended up hurting the other person's feelings and regretted it.

冗談(じょうだん) refers to jokes or kidding around.

冗談(じょうだん)を言(い)う (to tell a joke, to joke)
冗談(じょうだん)じゃない: No way! / You've got to be kidding (indignant); also "I'm not joking"
冗談(じょうだん)にする (to make a joke of something)
冗談(じょうだん)が通(つう)じない (unable to take a joke)
冗談(じょうだん)はよせ (stop joking; quit it)
冗談(じょうだん)半分(はんぶん)に (half-jokingly)

冗談(じょうだん) is neutral and can be used in most situations. For more casual speech, ジョーク (from English "joke") is also common.

"冗談(じょうだん)を作(つく)る" is unnatural. Use "冗談(じょうだん)を言(い)う" (to tell a joke) instead.

Related Words

Compare: ギャグ (gag, joke)

core

Added 2026.1.12 15:34 · Revised 2026.9.30 6:42

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