SG Heritage Dictionary

Word of the Day: Catachrestical

Jest [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. A joke; something ludicrous uttered and meant only to excite laughter. Religion should never be the subject of jest

2. The object of laughter or sport; a laughing stock.

3. Then let me be your jest I deserve it.

4. In jest for mere sport or diversion; not in truth and reality; not in earnest.

5. --And given in earnest what I begged in jest

6. A mask.

7. A deed; an action.

Jest [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. To divert or make merry by words or actions; to joke.

2. JEST not with a rude man, lest thy ancestors be disgraced.

3. To utter in sport; to say what is not true, merely for diversion.

4. To play a part in a mask.

Jest [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. A deed; an action; a gest.

2. A mask; a pageant; an interlude.

3. Something done or said in order to amuse; a joke; a witticism; a jocose or sportive remark or phrase. See Synonyms under Jest, v. i.

Jest [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. The object of laughter or sport; a laughingstock.

2. To take part in a merrymaking; -- especially, to act in a mask or interlude.

3. To make merriment by words or actions; to joke; to make light of anything.

Jested [Imperfect tense and past participle] Webster's Dictionary 1913

of Jest

Jester [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. A person given to jesting, sportive talk and merry pranks.

2. --He rambled up and down

3. With shallow jesters.

4. One given to sarcasm.

5. Now, as a jester I accost you.

6. A buffoon; a merry-andrew, a person formerly retained by princes to make sport for them.

Jester [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. A buffoon; a merry-andrew; a court fool.

2. A person addicted to jesting, or to indulgence in light and amusing talk.

Jestful [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Given to jesting; full of jokes.

Jesting [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

A joking; concise wit; wit that consists in a trope or verbal figure, in a metaphorical sense of words, or in a double sense of the same word, or in similitude of sound in different words.

Jesting [Participle present tense] Webster's Dictionary 1828

Joking; talking for diversion or merriment.

Jesting [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Sportive; not serious; fit for jests.

Jesting [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The act or practice of making jests; joking; pleasantry.

Jesting [Present participle and verbal noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

of Jest

Jesting-stock [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

A laughing stock; a butt of ridicule.

Jestingly [Adverb] Webster's Dictionary 1828

In a jocose manner; not in earnest.

Jestingly [Adverb] Webster's Dictionary 1913

In a jesting manner.

Unimportance Roget’s Thesaurus §643

N. unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, "trifles light as air", yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, "leather or prunello", chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing

V. be unimportant, not matter, go for nothing, matter nothing, signify nothing, matter little, matter little or nothing, not matter a straw, make light of, catch at straws

Adj. unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle- fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one-horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, 1 beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain

Adv. slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares

Int. no matter, pish, tush, tut, pshaw, pugh, pooh, pooh-pooh, fudge, bosh, humbug, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, fiddlededee, never mind, n'importe, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for' stuff and nonsense, stuff, nonsense, phr, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau

Wit Roget’s Thesaurus §842

N. wit, humor, wittiness, sense of humor, attic wit, attic salt, atticism, salt, esprit, point, fancy, whim, drollery, pleasantry, farce, buffoonery, fooling, tomfoolery, shenanigan, harlequinade, broad farce, broad humor, fun, espieglerie, vis comica, jocularity, jocosity, jocoseness, facetiousness, waggery, waggishness, whimsicality, comicality, banter, badinage, retort, repartee, smartness, ready wit, quid-pro- quo, ridicule, jest, joke, jape, jibe, facetiae, levity, quips and cranks, capital joke, canorae nugae, standing jest, standing joke, private joke, conceit, quip, quirk, crank, quiddity, concetto, plaisanterie, brilliant idea, merry thought, bright thought, happy thought, sally, flash of wit, flash of merriment, scintillation, mot, mot pour rire, witticism, smart saying, bon-mot, jeu d'esprit, epigram, jest book, dry joke, quodlibet, cream of the jest, word-play, jeu de mots, play of words, play upon words, pun, punning, double entente, double entendre, quibble, verbal quibble, conundrum, anagram, acrostic, double acrostic, trifling, idle conceit, turlupinade|, old joke, tired joke, flat joke, joe miller|

V. joke, jest, crack a joke, make a joke, jape, cut jokes, perpetrate a joke, pun, perpetrate a pun, make fun of, make merry with, kid, kid around, fool around, set the table in a roar, retort, banter, ridentem dicere verum, joke at one's expense, take in jest, bomb, fall flat, go over like a lead balloon

Adj. witty, attic, quick-witted, nimble-witted, smart, jocular, jocose, humorous, facetious, waggish, whimsical, kidding, joking, puckish, playful, merry and wise, pleasant, sprightly, light, spirituel, sparkling, epigrammatic, full of point, ben trovato, comic, zany, madcap, funny, amusing

Adv. jokingly, in joke, in jest, in sport, in play

Phr. adhibenda est in jocando moderatio, "gentle dullness ever loves a joke", "leave this keen encounter of our wits", just joking, just kidding, "surely you jest!"

Laughingstock Roget’s Thesaurus §857

N. # laughingstock, jestingstock, gazingstock, butt, game, fair game, april fool, original, oddity, queer fish, odd fish, quiz, square toes, old monkey, old fogey, fogey monkey, fogy monkey, buffoon, pantomimist, schlemiel, jest

Phr. dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt, 3, prospective affections