: a joke only understood by the few people who know what it refers to
Examples of private joke in a Sentence
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Eating and cooking and walking have become elevated pleasures, as have the dance-like dynamic of a really good conversation or the intimacy of a long-running private joke.—
Stephanie Sy-Quia,
Vogue,
14 Apr. 2026 However, the unexpected theme certainly had an impact on the public, especially those who were not in on the private joke.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
28 Jan. 2026 The 16-year-old was expelled and charged with threatening mass violence, even though his school acknowledged the video was intended as a private joke.—
Aliyya Swaby,
ProPublica,
25 Sep. 2024 This gallows humor amounts to a national private joke — perhaps never intended to be taken seriously (not with characters named Dementus, Scrotus, and Rictus Erectus) except by comic-book fanatics emboldened by cinematic representation.—
Armond White,
National Review,
24 May 2024