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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

joey.

The immature young of a marsupial, notably a junior kangaroo, but also a young wallaby, koala, etc.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/
  1. The immature young of a marsupial, notably a junior kangaroo, but also a young wallaby, koala, etc.

  2. A young child.

    Australia · slang
  3. Ellipsis of joey word.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
  4. A parcel smuggled in to an inmate.

    Ireland · UK · slang
Where this word comes from

Unknown. Older and more general sources state that joey comes from an Australian Aboriginal language (cited as joè), but newer sources that focus on Australian English and Aboriginal languages say the origin is unknown. The Australian National Dictionary includes a sense of “young possum” with citations predating the earliest “young kangaroo” citations.

noun/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/
  1. A kind of clown.

Where this word comes from

From Joseph Grimaldi (1778–1837), a popular English entertainer.

noun/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/
  1. A member of the Royal Marines.

    UK · slang
noun/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/
  1. A person with cerebral palsy.

    dated · derogatory · offensive · slang
  2. A stupid person.

    dated · derogatory · offensive · slang
Where this word comes from

From British TV personality Joey Deacon (1920–1981), who was the focus of Blue Peter's 1981 charity campaign. The programme was aimed at children, who then picked the term up and used it as an insult.

noun/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/
  1. A fourpenny piece, or its value; fourpence worth.

    UK · obsolete · slang
    a joey of brandy
Where this word comes from

Said to have been named after Scottish politician Joseph Hume (1777–1855).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.