wild card
noun
1
: an unknown or unpredictable factor
2
: one picked to fill a leftover playoff or tournament berth after regularly qualifying competitors have all been determined
3
usually wildcard
: a symbol (such as ? or *) used in a keyword database search to represent the presence of zero, one, or more than one unspecified characters
Examples of wild card in a Sentence
The joker is a wild card.
Taxes are the wild card in this election.
The team made it into the play-offs as the wild card.
Recent Examples on the Web
The 25-14 record the Padres took into Monday sets the club up well to get a fourth wild card in six years.
—
Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 May 2025
The ultimate wild cards: PJ Haggerty, Darrion Williams, Boogie Fland, Jamir Watkins
Every member of this foursome remains in the transfer portal as of this writing.
—Jim Root, New York Times, 2 May 2025
That’s why each month our Feel-Good Food Plan—with delicious recipes and a few wild cards—is hosted by someone new.
—Nina Moskowitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 May 2025
Copilot monetization is another wild card: Investors want to know whether Microsoft’s AI tools are translating into real enterprise spending or are still stuck in the pilot phase.
—Catherine Baab, Quartz, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wild card
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Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 May 2025
The ultimate wild cards: PJ Haggerty, Darrion Williams, Boogie Fland, Jamir Watkins
Every member of this foursome remains in the transfer portal as of this writing.
—Jim Root, New York Times, 2 May 2025
That’s why each month our Feel-Good Food Plan—with delicious recipes and a few wild cards—is hosted by someone new.
—Nina Moskowitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 May 2025
Copilot monetization is another wild card: Investors want to know whether Microsoft’s AI tools are translating into real enterprise spending or are still stuck in the pilot phase.
—Catherine Baab, Quartz, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wild card
Cite this Entry
“Wild card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20card. Accessed 17 May. 2025.
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