笑话是指以一句短语或一个小故事让说话者和听者之间觉得好笑，或是产生幽默感，另外一个行动（动作）型的笑话是以动作影响人的视觉及观感，而让人感到好笑。

几乎所有笑话都包含两个组成：第一是笑话开头（例如：有一天，面包与肉包发生争执...），第二是笑点，是一个意想不到，或是与现实完全相反的情节或关键，也是一个笑话最重要的部分，且这个笑点能不能让听众感到好笑，将成为这个笑话能否成功的关键。

也有观点认为，好的笑话具有三种要素：

A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh. It takes the form of a story, usually with dialogue, and ends in a punch line. It is in the punch line that the audience becomes aware that the story contains a second, conflicting meaning. This can be done using a pun or other word play such as irony, a logical incompatibility, nonsense or other means. Linguist Robert Hetzron offers the definition: