noun
-
a person who writes satire
-
a person given to the use of satire
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of satirist
Explanation
A satirist is a writer or artist who uses biting humor and exaggerated language to make fun of someone. Political satirists often target candidates with cartoons that highlight their flaws. A skilled satirist can use something that seems silly or ridiculous at first glance to make a serious point. The work a satirist does, called satire, is all about using humor to show that public figures are weak or corrupt — and also to expose bigger societal issues. Today, a satirist might focus on a politician's refusal to acknowledge the reality of climate change, exposing both their dishonesty and the significance of the issue.
Vocabulary lists containing satirist
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.
“Wake me up in a hundred years, ask me what is happening in Russia,” mused Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, a 19th-century satirist, “and I’ll tell you with my usual frankness: We steal, we drink, we make war.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
“She was a social satirist who was very well aware of currents in sociology and, in particular, psychology and psychiatry, which she mocked in a gentle but devastating way.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Mr Poirson-Atlan told the court on Tuesday that he was a "satirist" who had just wished to put forward "a point of view different to that of the mainstream media".
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky built national stature as a television satirist playing a fictional president.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025
Now, he was a satirist, so he left it that way, and my father was, I guess I realized too late, a romantic, so he ended it another way.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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.
