A wildcard character is a symbol that represents one or more characters in a pattern. It is often used in computer programming and database searches for finding specific data without having to specify the exact characters. Synonyms for wildcard characters include wildcard, joker character, pattern matching character, and placeholder. The use of wildcard characters can make searching and matching data more efficient and effective. Different programming languages and software applications may use different symbols to represent wildcard characters, such as the asterisk (*) or question mark (?). Understanding wildcard characters and how to use them can help improve productivity and accuracy in data retrieval.