nouns-that-start-with-j

143 Nouns That Start with J | Huge List with Definitions and Examples

Let us talk about nouns that start with J. While going through different books, articles and blog posts you must have felt that most of the words that start with J are positive in nature for example, job, joy, justice, judge, jest, joke, etc. Most of the nouns that start with J included in this article also carry that positivity.

It is important that we talk about letter J itself first. Both I and J were used interchangeably by scribes to express the sound of both the vowel and the consonant. It wasn’t until 1524 when Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian Renaissance grammarian known as the father of the letter J, made a clear distinction between the two sounds.

This article contains some amazing nouns that start with J that can help bring a positive change in your speech and writing. To achieve that outcome, you need to learn the art of using these nouns starting with J into phrases and sentences that you utter.

Without making you wait any further, let us now go through the list of nouns beginning with J given below.

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Nouns That Start with J You Always Use

There are lots of nouns that start with J that we use on a regular basis in our writings and day-to-day oral communications. These are some of those nouns.

1. Job

  • Definition: a paid position of regular employment
  • Synonyms: appointment, berth, billet
  • Example: She quit her job.

2. Juice

  • Definition: the liquid obtained from or present in fruit or vegetables
  • Synonyms: liquid, fluid, sap
  • Example: He made the lemon juice.

3. Jab

  • Definition: a quick or sudden hit with something sharp or hard
  • Synonyms: dab, dig, lunge
  • Example: She gave me a sharp jab in the ribs with her elbow to stop me from saying any more.

4. Jacket

  • Definition: a short coat
  • Synonyms: coat, fur
  • Example: I felt a bit chilly so I put on a jacket.

5. Jazz

  • Definition: a type of modern music originally developed by African-Americans
  • Synonyms: music, blues
  • Example: I’ve never really gone in for classical music, but I love jazz.

6. Jail

  • Definition: a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
  • Synonyms: cell, lockup, penitentiary
  • Example: He was arrested and sent to jail.

7. Jealousy

  • Definition: the state or feeling of being jealous
  • Synonyms: envy, grudge, resentment
  • Example: Their marriage got ruined by infidelity and jealousy.

8. Jeep

  • Definition: a brand name for a type of small strong vehicle used for travelling over rough ground, especially by the army
  • Synonyms: vehicle, van
  • Example: He took his jeep to the mountainous region.

9. Jewel

  • Definition: a precious stone that is used to decorate valuable objects
  • Synonyms: gemstone, rock
  • Example: She was wearing a large gold necklace set with jewels.

10. Judgement

  • Definition: the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing
  • Synonyms: decision, finding
  • Example: We have to make a judgment about the value of their services.

Nouns That Start with J You Usually Use

Following is a list of nouns starting with J that we usually use in our daily life routine. Maximum effort is required on your part in learning these nouns.

1. Jellyfish  

  • Definition: a sea creature with a soft, oval, almost transparent body
  • Synonyms: medusa, fish
  • Example: The sting of a jellyfish is very painful.

2. Journal

  • Definition: a daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary
  • Synonyms: diary, log
  • Example: I’ve been keeping a journal for several years.

3. Jug

  • Definition: a cylindrical container with a handle and a lip, used for holding and pouring liquids
  • Synonyms: crock, jar
  • Example: He filled a jug with juice.

4. Jungle

  • Definition: a tropical forest in which trees and plants grow very closely together
  • Synonyms: wilds, wilderness
  • Example: The Yanomami people live in the South American jungle.

5. Jolt

  • Definition: an abrupt rough or violent movement
  • Synonyms: bump, knock, bang
  • Example: He felt a jolt when the plane started to climb.

6. Joyfulness

  • Definition: the quality of being very happy
  • Synonyms: cheerfulness, exuberance, gaiety
  • Example: Her playing infused the music with a sense of joyfulness.

7. Jackal

  • Definition: a wild animal like a dog that lives in Africa and southern Asia and eats animals that have died or been killed by others
  • Synonyms: canis-aureus
  • Example: A jackal is a kind of the animal that scavenges rotten meat.

8. Justification

  • Definition: a good reason or explanation for something
  • Synonyms: defense, argument, apologia
  • Example: There is no justification for treating people so badly.

9. Jumble

  • Definition: an untidy and confused mixture of things, feelings, or ideas
  • Synonyms: clutter, muddle, mess
  • Example: He rummaged through the jumble of papers on his desk.

10. Jumbo

  • Definition: a very large specimen of its kind
  • Synonyms: giant, goliath
  • Example: The winner in the contest for biggest pumpkin was a jumbo.

Nouns That Start with J You Often Use

Following is a list of nouns beginning with J. Try to enlarge this list of nouns that begin with the letter J by yourself through the addition of new nouns to it.

1. June

  • Definition: the sixth month of the year, after May and before July
  • Synonyms: summer, sixth month
  • Example: A lot of people get married in June.

2. Jubilee

  • Definition: a special anniversary of an event, especially one celebrating twenty-five or fifty years of a reign or activity
  • Synonyms: carnival, celebration, fest
  • Example: To celebrate its jubilee, the club is holding a tournament.

3. Jape

  • Definition: an activity done to make someone laugh or to trick someone
  • Synonyms: fool, jeer, jest
  • Example: They put a frog in her boots for a jape.

4. Jerkiness

  • Definition: the quality of not being smooth and pleasant, but having quick and sudden movements
  • Synonyms: roughness, shakiness
  • Example: There was a jerkiness to his movement.

5. Jumper

  • Definition: a piece of clothing with long sleeves that is usually made from wool, is worn on the upper part of the body and does not open at the front
  • Synonyms: jersey, sweater
  • Example: It’s very cold so put a jumper on.

6. Jam

  • Definition: a sweet, soft food made by cooking fruit with sugar to preserve it
  • Synonyms: jelly, marmalade
  • Example: She has toast with raspberry jam for breakfast.

7. Junk

  • Definition: things that are considered to be of no use or value, or of low quality
  • Synonyms: clutter, debris, rubbish
  • Example: The garage has got full of junk again.

8. Journalism

  • Definition: the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media
  • Synonyms: press, media
  • Example: On his retirement from office he returned to journalism and business.

9. Jersey

  • Definition: a knitted garment with long sleeves, worn over the upper body
  • Synonyms: sweater, chemise
  • Example: She is wearing a maroon jersey.

10. Jumpsuit

  • Definition: a piece of clothing that covers both the upper body and the legs
  • Synonyms: beach wear, thong
  • Example: She wore a jumpsuit to the beach.

Nouns That Start with J You Sometimes Use

Nouns are very important for language development. These are some of the nouns that start with the letter J that are not used on a regular basis in our daily life routine.

1. Jabber

  • Definition: rapid, excited, and often incomprehensible speech
  • Synonyms: prattle, babble, chatter
  • Example: Listen to the jabber of those people.

2. Jaundice

  • Definition: yellowish pigmentation of the skin, tissues, and body fluids caused by the deposition of bile pigments
  • Synonyms: tartness, biliousness, leptospirosis
  • Example: The symptoms of jaundice can be seen in her eyes.

3. Juncture

  • Definition: particular point in time
  • Synonyms: time, moment
  • Example: At this juncture, it is impossible to say whether she will make a full recovery.

4. Jade

  • Definition: a green precious stone from which jewelry and small decorative items are made, especially in China and Japan
  • Synonyms: rock jewel, gem
  • Example: The jewelry is crafted from carved jade and bone.

5. Jawbone

  • Definition: the bone that forms the shape of the lower part of the face
  • Synonyms: chin, jaw
  • Example: When an osteosarcoma develops in the jawbone, the entire lower jaw is removed.

6. Jigsaw

  • Definition: a picture stuck onto wood or cardboard and cut into pieces of different shapes that must be joined together correctly to form the picture again
  • Synonyms: scroll-​saw, puzzle
  • Example: A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.

7. Junkyard

  • Definition: a place to where people take large things such as old furniture or machines that they no longer want
  • Synonyms: dump, landfill
  • Example: I saw an interesting junkyard from a train a month ago.

8. Jurisdiction

  • Definition: the authority of a court or official organization to make decisions and judgments
  • Synonyms: authority, control, power
  • Example: The court has no jurisdiction over cases of this kind.

9. Joviality

  • Definition: the quality in a person of being friendly and in a good mood, or of a situation being enjoyable, friendly and pleasant
  • Synonyms: mirth, fun, frolic
  • Example: There was an air of joviality in the room.

10. Jiffy

  • Definition: a very short time
  • Synonyms: second moment
  • Example: I’ll be with you in a jiffy.

Nouns That Start with J You Occasionally Use

Most of the nouns with letter J might be pretty commonly used, but there are some that are only used at some specific occasions. Following is a list of such nouns.

1. Jargon

  • Definition: the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group
  • Synonyms: idiom, slang, cant
  • Example: This is an academic essay filled with jargon.

2. Juggernaut

  • Definition: a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path
  • Synonyms: campaign, cause, crusade
  • Example: There was no escaping the juggernaut of hype for the studio’s biggest summer blockbuster.

3. Juxtaposition

  • Definition: the fact of putting things that are not similar next to each other
  • Synonyms: clash, contrast
  • Example: An odd juxtaposition of talents worked exceedingly well on the project.

4. Jalapeno

  • Definition: a medium-sized chili, usually green, with a hot taste
  • Synonyms: cayenne-pepper, chili-pepper
  • Example: They’d like recipes using fresh rather than pickled jalapenos.

5. Joystick

  • Definition: a device that can be moved forwards, backwards, and sideways to control a machine or computer game
  • Synonyms: joypad, gamepad
  • Example: He moves a joystick to control the robotic arm.

6. Jalopy

  • Definition: an old car in a dilapidated condition
  • Synonyms: beater, clunker
  • Example: I’ve sold my old jalopy to my neighbor’s son.

7. Jukebox

  • Definition: a machine in a bar, etc. that plays recorded music when a coin is put into it
  • Synonyms: orchestrina, music box
  • Example: Their favorite song was playing on the jukebox.

8. Jujitsu

  • Definition: a type of self-defense from Japan that does not involve weapons and is done as a sport
  • Synonyms: karate, wrestling
  • Example: Santana was a champion in Jujitsu.

9. Jejunity

  • Definition: the quality of being vapid and unsophisticated
  • Synonyms: tameness, vapidity
  • Example: I hate his jejunity.

10. Jurisprudence

  • Definition: the science or philosophy of law
  • Synonyms: commandment, decree, charter
  • Example: The general principles of law in the legal sense are discussed under Jurisprudence.

Nouns That Start with J You Seldom Use

Nouns are indispensable because without them we would not be able to name anything in this world, especially noun words that start with J. For your convenience, we have shared some noun words starting with J below.

1. Jeremiad

  • Definition: a long list of complaints or problems
  • Synonyms: lecture, sermon, critique
  • Example: The critic delivers regular jeremiads against the contemporary art world.

2. Joinery

  • Definition: the work of a joiner or the things made by a joiner
  • Synonyms: carpentry, woodworking
  • Example: The joinery had been done perfectly too, so that each straining post and strut appeared to be an integral unit.

3. Jabberwocky

  • Definition: invented or meaningless language
  • Synonyms: nonsense, foolishness
  • Example: The translation was slow and full of jabberwocky.

4. Judicature

  • Definition: the legal system and the work it does
  • Synonyms: judicatory, criminal court, judiciary
  • Example: In the Eastern Church, the early system of ecclesiastical judicature long continued.

5. Jalousie

  • Definition: a blind or shutter made of a row of angled slats
  • Synonyms: shade, shutter
  • Example: He peeped between the half-open jalousies.

6. Jinn

  • Definition: in Arab and Muslim traditional stories, a magical spirit who may appear in the form of a human or an animal and can take control of a person
  • Synonyms: angels, genies
  • Example: The Jinn were created before humans.

7. Jetsam

  • Definition: things that are thrown away from ships and then float onto the land
  • Synonyms: leavings, remnant
  • Example: Remove flotsam and jetsam from around the bay.

8. Jaconet

  • Definition: a lightweight cotton cloth used for clothing and bandages
  • Synonyms: cloth, fabric
  • Example: She was looking gorgeous in green jaconet.

9. Jonquil

  • Definition: a Mediterranean daffodil
  • Synonyms: daffodil, narcissus
  • Example: Narcissus varieties include jonquils, daffodils, and paper whites.

10. Jamboree

  • Definition: a large organized event that many people go to, or a busy, noisy occasion or period
  • Synonyms: rally, gathering, get-together
  • Example: The beer festival was a huge open-air jamboree with music, stalls and everyone enjoying themselves.

Positive Nouns That Start with J

As we have told you already at the start of this article that most of the nouns that start with J are positive in nature. Here are some of those positive nouns that start with J that both carry and spread positivity wherever you use them.

1. Journey

  • Definition: the act of travelling from one place to another, especially in a vehicle
  • Synonyms: trip, expedition
  • Example: I love going on long journeys.

2. Justice

  • Definition: fairness in the way people are dealt with
  • Synonyms: fairness, justness, fair play
  • Example: The role of the courts is to dispense justice fairly to everyone.

3. Jubilation

  • Definition: a feeling of great happiness, especially because of a success
  • Synonyms: exultation, triumph
  • Example: There was jubilation in the crowd as the winning goal was scored.

4. Jingle

  • Definition: a light ringing sound such as that made by metal objects being shaken together
  • Synonyms: chink, tinkle, jangle
  • Example: The jingle of the bridle was very pleasing.

5. Jackpot

  • Definition: the largest prize in a competition or game
  • Synonyms: kitty, pool, pot
  • Example: He won the jackpot of over $1 million.

6. Jelly

  • Definition: a sweet soft food made by cooking fruit
  • Synonyms: desert, gelatin
  • Example: I ate a bowl of jelly and custard.

7. Junket

  • Definition: a journey or visit made for pleasure
  • Synonyms: celebration, party, jamboree
  • Example: He is off on another junket.

8. Jest

  • Definition: something that is said or done in order to be funny
  • Synonyms: gag, sally, pun
  • Example: He laughed uproariously at his own jest.

9. Josh

  • Definition: good-natured banter
  • Synonyms: jest, banter, chaff
  • Example: They loved the josh I made about his bald head.

10. Jaunt

  • Definition: a short journey for pleasure, sometimes including a stay
  • Synonyms: outing, excursion, expedition
  • Example: She’s gone on a jaunt into town.

Nouns That Start with J to Describe a Person

Following are some of the nouns that start with J to describe a person, his actions and his profession. Try and memorize as many of these J nouns as possible.

1. Joker

  • Definition: a person given to joking
  • Synonyms: humorist, comedian
  • Example: I can’t believe I let that joker beat me.

2. Jogger

  • Definition: someone who jogs as a form of exercise
  • Synonyms: racer, hurdler
  • Example: You always see joggers in the park on Saturday mornings.

3. Juggler

  • Definition: a person who juggles objects in order to entertain people
  • Synonyms: magician, seer, conjurer
  • Example: He toured the New England Vaudeville Circuit as a juggler.

4. Juvenile

  • Definition: relating to a young person who is not yet old enough to be considered an adult
  • Synonyms: youngster, child, teenager
  • Example: There is a special law relating to the sentencing of juveniles.

5. Jester

  • Definition: a man in the past whose job was to tell jokes and make people laugh
  • Synonyms: comedian, fool
  • Example: This old man had been a jester in his youth.

6. Jury

  • Definition: a group of people who have been chosen to listen to all the facts in a trial in a law court and to decide if a person is guilty or not
  • Synonyms: judges, tribunal
  • Example: The jury have been unable to return a verdict.

7. Jaywalker

  • Definition: someone who walks across a street at a place where it is not allowed or without taking care to avoid the traffic
  • Synonyms: passerby, hiker
  • Example: Jaywalkers have also been a big problem in this area.

8. Jetsetter

  • Definition: a member of the jet set
  • Synonyms: sightseer, traveler, visitor
  • Example: He was well-​known in his own time as a jetsetter.

9. Jockey

  • Definition: a person whose job is riding horses in races
  • Synonyms: rider, horseman
  • Example: The race was won by top jockey Eddie Andrews.

10. Joyrider

  • Definition: a person who drives fast and dangerously for pleasure, especially in a stolen vehicle
  • Synonyms: speeder, carjacker, cabdriver
  • Example: He was hit by a car that was being driven by joyriders.

Nouns That Start with J – Full List (143 Words)

  • June
  • Juncture
  • Jim-dandy
  • Jamb
  • Josh
  • Jaconet
  • Jejunum
  • Joyride
  • Jot
  • Jumper
  • Jink
  • Jargon
  • Joke
  • Jalousie
  • Jag
  • Journalism
  • Jeremiad
  • Job
  • Jubilee
  • Jitter
  • Junkyard
  • Jealousy
  • Juggler
  • Jacket
  • Jazzmen
  • Jubilation
  • Jumble
  • Judicature
  • Jurist
  • Junk
  • Jab
  • Jamboree
  • Jumbo
  • Junior
  • Jolt
  • Juggernaut
  • Journalese
  • Jetsetter
  • Jay
  • Juice
  • Jetsam
  • Juicer
  • Jabberwock
  • Jet
  • Jeans
  • Jelly
  • Junction
  • Jellyfish
  • Julep
  • Jam
  • Jedec
  • Jest
  • Juju
  • Justification
  • Joyrider
  • Jalapeno
  • Jade
  • Jonquil
  • Jingo
  • Jute
  • Jurisdiction
  • Joust
  • Jeep
  • Jeweler
  • Junta
  • Judgeship
  • Judo
  • Junket
  • Jasper
  • Judgement
  • Judgment
  • Jinx
  • Juxtaposition
  • Jiffy
  • Journal
  • Jaundice
  • Joy
  • Juke
  • Jazz
  • Jujube
  • Jockey
  • Jail
  • Jinn
  • Joblot
  • Jingle
  • Jackpot
  • Jowl
  • Jogger
  • Jejunity
  • Jig
  • Jaunt
  • Judiciary
  • Jalopy
  • Jabberwocky
  • Jukebox
  • Jerkiness
  • Jape
  • Jackal
  • Justice
  • Justiciary
  • Joyfulness
  • Jewelry
  • Java
  • Jawbone
  • Jurisprudence
  • Jujitsu
  • Join
  • Juvenile
  • Jigger
  • Joist
  • Joystick
  • Juniper
  • Jockstrap
  • Joiner
  • Jitterbug
  • Janitor
  • Jury
  • John
  • Jungle
  • Jaywalker
  • Jerk
  • Jar
  • Jump
  • Jug
  • Japonica
  • Jumpsuit
  • Joint
  • Journey
  • Jester
  • Judge
  • Jeopardy
  • Jigsaw
  • Jive
  • Jewel
  • Jaw
  • Joinery
  • Jabber
  • Journeyman
  • Joviality
  • Juror
  • Jersey
  • Journalist
  • Joker

Final Thoughts on Nouns That Start with J

Thank you for going through this article on nouns that start with J. It is hoped that apart from learning all of these nouns starting with J you would also have felt the positive vibes coming out of most of them.

If you use these nouns that start with J in the company of your friends and colleagues, you will sound really cool and positive. Therefore, it is advised that you go through this article at least a couple of times.

We could not include all of the nouns beginning with J in this article but we have tried to stuff as many as we can. If you think that you can add new entertaining nouns to this article, try doing that.