sick joke

sick joke

1. A joke, story, or anecdote that is meant to be funny but is actually very offensive. He kept telling sick jokes about kids in third-world countries being killed, until someone eventually told him to shut up.
2. Anything that is or seems especially cruel, offensive, or tragic. The government is acting like the $20-a-month increase in the social welfare payments they approved is some huge victory, when in reality its just a sick joke for those who are barely able to survive each month. He worked so hard to sober up and stay off drugs and alcohol, only to be hit by a bus the second week of being clean. It's like a sick joke.
See also: joke, sick
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

sick joke

An anecdote intended to be humorous but actually in very bad taste, as in His stories turn out to be sick jokes about people who are handicapped in some way. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]
See also: joke, sick
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • brevity is the soul of wit
  • dirty joke
  • be the butt of something
  • be the butt of the joke
  • rib-tickler
  • shaggy
  • shaggy dog story
  • shaggy-dog story
  • a shaggy-dog story
  • make mad
References in periodicals archive
With only occasional trips to Teesside?" Referring to the steel plant's closure in 2015, she said: "It's a sick joke when this site, and thousands of jobs, could have been saved if central Government ministers and civil servants had acted in the first place."
Teesside jobs expert may pop up now and then..
It was a sick joke. I've been on air eight and a half years and I've never read a sick joke out."
Quip's a real turn-off; Apology for sick 'joke'
"What sort of sick joke is this?" the restaurant owner asked.
Saying it with flowers
The "life" she finds in Elsewhere seems to be a sick joke. What difference does it make where you live or what you do when you are dead?
Zevin, Gabrielle. Elsewhere
The sick joke on the England cricket team's poor performance in Australia makes fun of the death of the former lead singer of pop group INXS, who was found hanged in a Sydney hotel room in 1997.
Sickener for Paula
LEO Varadkar's advice to distressed mortgage holders has been branded a "sick joke" by Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan.
LEO'S 'SICK JOKE' High Court Master raps Taoiseach advice to struggling mortgage holders
DONALD Trump once made the sick joke that he could "shoot somebody" and still not lose votes.
Trump's not funny; RECORD VIEW
THE killer of schoolgirl Milly Dowler cracked a sick joke about her family being given pounds 3million compensation, saying: "I should have had some of that."
Milly killer 'joke' over pounds 3m deal
Carroll control his mouth just for half-an-hour and tone it down a bit for the sake the show of February 7, his sick joke about people who own Labradors was despicable.
Foul Mrs Brown; You Say Email:letters@liverpoolecho.co.uk
In an e-mail leaked earlier this month, Mr Sharp fumed to colleagues: "I have just listened to the album and want to know if this is some sick joke?" Praise & Blame, a collection of gospel and blues songs, topped the mid-week charts on Wednesday.
Will Tom 'rap' up top spot?
I have just listened to the album in its entirety and want to know if this is some sick joke????" Sharpe wrote.
Sir Tom Jones hits back after record company's boss' 'sick joke' comment
SIR Tom Jones has attacked the vice-president of his own record company after a leaked e-mail last week revealed the executive branded his new album "a sick joke".
Tom's fury after record company boss brands new album a 'sick joke' GOSPEL RECORD CRITICISED IN EXECUTIVE E-MAIL BLUNDER
But this pretence at democracy is a sick joke. Burma's most famous pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi (left) remains under house arrest and is banned from taking part.
BURMA'S SHAM VOTE
A once proud service which was synonymous with efficiency and reliability has turned into a sick joke.
Letter: Mail joke
"I still think this is a sick joke, that he'll come back in and everything will be the same."
My tears for Robin