English Meaning & Definitions
A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.
- “The comedian's opening joke was a terrible pun about bakers and kneading dough.”
- “I really wanted a job at the calendar factory, but their days were all numbered, to use a bad pun.”
To make a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word.
- “He couldn't resist the urge to pun whenever someone mentioned carpentry.”
- “She loves to pun on historical figures' names during her lectures.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “pun”.
Shortening of the obsolete word 'punto' (meaning a nice point or quibble), or possibly an abbreviation of the seventeenth-century word 'pundogriddle'. It emerged in the mid-17th century in academic and literary circles to describe a play on words.
A pun is 'PUN-ishingly' clever when it makes you groan and laugh at the same time.
Frequently Asked Questions About “pun”
1. What is the meaning of “pun” in English?
In English, pun (noun) is defined as: “A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.”.
2. How do you use “pun” in a sentence?
“The comedian's opening joke was a terrible pun about bakers and kneading dough.”
3. What are English synonyms of “pun”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “pun”?
Shortening of the obsolete word 'punto' (meaning a nice point or quibble), or possibly an abbreviation of the seventeenth-century word 'pundogriddle'. It emerged in the mid-17th century in academic and literary circles to describe a play on words.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.