mock
Americanverb (used with object)
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mocks,
present (3rd person singular)
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mocked,
past participle, past
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mocking
present participle
-
to attack or treat with ridicule, contempt, or derision.
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to ridicule by mimicry of action or speech; mimic derisively.
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to mimic, imitate, or counterfeit.
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to challenge; defy.
His actions mock convention.
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to deceive, delude, or disappoint.
verb (used without object)
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mocks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mocked,
past participle, past
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mocking
present participle
noun
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a contemptuous or derisive imitative action or speech; mockery or derision.
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something mocked or derided; an object of derision.
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an imitation; counterfeit; fake.
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Shipbuilding.
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a hard pattern representing the surface of a plate with a warped form, upon which the plate is beaten to shape after furnacing.
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Also called mock mold. bed.
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adjective
verb phrase
verb
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to behave with scorn or contempt (towards); show ridicule (for)
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(tr) to imitate, esp in fun; mimic
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(tr) to deceive, disappoint, or delude
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(tr) to defy or frustrate
the team mocked the visitors' attempt to score
noun
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the act of mocking
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a person or thing mocked
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a counterfeit; imitation
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informal (often plural) (in England and Wales) the school examinations taken as practice before public examinations
adjective
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sham or counterfeit
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serving as an imitation or substitute, esp for practice purposes
a mock battle
mock finals
Synonym Usage
See ridicule.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mocksimple
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mockssimple
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have mockedperfect
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has mockedperfect
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am mockingprogressive
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are mockingprogressive
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is mockingprogressive
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have been mockingperfect progressive
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has been mockingperfect progressive
Past
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mockedsimple
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had mockedperfect
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was mockingprogressive
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were mockingprogressive
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had been mockingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mock
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English mokken, from Middle French mocquer
Explanation
Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, but to mock is to make fun of or mimic someone with contempt, ridicule or derision. "Louise’s favorite pastime was to mock her brother’s inability to sing on key." The verb mock — as in the use that inspired the name of the mockingbird — can be simple imitation but, more often, to mock someone is to show disdain through mimicry or parody. As an adjective, mock indicates a fake or a simulation: "The design team made the most fabulous mock Eiffel Tower for our staging of An American in Paris." "His mock gratitude was, at times, unbearable."
Vocabulary lists containing mock
The Diary of Anne Frank
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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Nothing But the Truth
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She stopped in the middle of the woods during a walk, looked with disapproval at my light jacket, and threw her hands up in mock confusion, surveying the snow-encrusted pines.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Hwang gathered along with 30 neighbours for a session in August, practising how to pay hospital bills at mock kiosks, patting a prancing robot dog, or asking their phones: "Gemini, tell me about tomorrow's weather."
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
“I would call it mock heroic or satiric. Miller’s is more of a sledgehammer. I wanted to write an ending for this moment that would connect with audiences.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
The rising seniors were selected from Kelley’s already competitive roughly 60-student commercial real-estate workshop, in which students analyze deals and pitch them to mock committees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Because what am I going to say when she asks me why I ran away before the mock debate yesterday?
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
In fact, Anthropic, which is behind the Claude AI chatbot, indirectly mocks OpenAI’s ChatGPT in its ad.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 6, 2026
She identifies herself as a U.S. citizen and lightly mocks Ross for filming their license plates.
From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2026
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, mocks both of them.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025
The monologue mocks man’s attempts to attach meaning to existence, but this novel approach underscores that while men may never be able to find meaning in life, trying is a necessary, even noble pursuit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025
“Oh, how scary these words are,” he mocks.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
He then mocked one of the main topics of this year’s General Assembly—an effort to put restraints on artificial intelligence, which Trump said should be called superintelligence, because the word artificial makes it sound “fake.”
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
My career was insulted, and I was mocked for fumbling around while attempting to juice a pineapple with a woefully inadequate kitchen utensil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
"When we launched this debate... we were mocked, people said it was totally unrealistic," Bodskov said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
“It’s amazing to see how willing students are to talk in his classrooms, how little afraid they feel of being mocked or put down—he gets complete candor out of them.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
It mocked every bully that had ever picked on him.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
"They don't have enough land," he said, mocking Russia -- the world's largest country.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
After seeing a stream of comments interpreting it as mocking the security forces, she deleted it quickly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Phillips ultimately lost his job with Collins too, this time after crudely mocking a rival political operative whose wife had accused former NBC journalist Matt Lauer of rape.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
Thousands of posts mocking Modi have flooded social media.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Yeah, you heah,” Bull said, mocking his wife’s southern accent.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
