Word.ws English Dictionary

the joke is on someone

the joke is on someone phrase: someone is the butt of a joke or is experiencing a negative outcome, especially if that person was trying to make someone else the butt of the joke or subject them to the negative outcome.

Phrase

the joke is on someone

  1. (idiomatic) Someone is the butt of a joke or is experiencing a negative outcome, especially if that person was trying to make someone else the butt of the joke or subject them to the negative outcome.
    • As only a small per cent of the dealers use the word "Leghorn," and the ones who do try to use it can't tell a Leghorn from a mixed breed or from many other breeds, the most of the joke is on someone else.1923, The Poultry Item, page 31
    • Like Cole, we see through the penny-trick instantly, but the joke is on us, and on Malcolm himself, because we fall for the same joke on the level of the film as a whole.2015, Randy Laist, Cinema of Simulation: Hyperreal Hollywood in the Long 1990s, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN, page 232

Questions about the joke is on someone

What does the joke is on someone mean?
The joke is on someone means someone is the butt of a joke or is experiencing a negative outcome, especially if that person was trying to make someone else the butt of the joke or subject them to the negative outcome.
What part of speech is the joke is on someone?
The joke is on someone is a phrase.

Words near the joke is on someone in the dictionary

  1. the ink was not even dry
  2. the Internet never forgets
  3. the jig is up
  4. the job is oxo
  5. the job's a good 'un
  6. the joke is on someone
  7. the joke's on someone
  8. the jokes write themselves
  9. the jug goes to the well until it breaks
  10. the juice is worth the squeeze
  11. The Junction

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the joke is on someone (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-the joke is on someone.ogg.

Cite this entry: “the joke is on someone.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/the_joke_is_on_someone. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.