# inside joke

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/inside-joke
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A joke that is understood or meant to be understood only by certain people who are aware of the details (an ingroup).

## Examples

- They laughed at an inside joke during dinner.
- I felt a bit left out because my friends kept laughing at an inside joke from their trip.
- The colleagues shared a knowing glance, their amusement sparked by an inside joke that remained entirely opaque to the rest of the room.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.