lampoon

[lam-poon]

noun

1. a sharp, often virulent satire directed against an individual or institution; a work of literature, art, or the like, ridiculing severely the character or behavior of a person, society, etc.

verb (used with object)

1. to mock or ridicule in a lampoon.

   to lampoon important leaders in the government.

lampoon

/ læmˈpuːn /

noun

1. a satire in prose or verse ridiculing a person, literary work, etc

verb

1. (tr) to attack or satirize in a lampoon

Other Word Forms

• lampooner noun
• lampoonist noun
• lampoonery noun
• unlampooned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lampoon¹

First recorded in 1635–45; from French lampon, said to be noun use of lampons “let us guzzle” (from a drinking song), imperative of lamper, akin to laper “to lap up,” from Germanic; lap ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of lampoon¹

C17: from French lampon, perhaps from lampons let us drink (frequently used as a refrain in poems)

Synonym Study

See satire.

Example Sentences

He played the game like a child, or like someone who was bent on lampooning a sacred ritual, which amounted to the same thing.

Read more on Literature

Chenoweth, who is as gleaming as a holiday ornament on Liberace’s Christmas tree, arrives at a canny balance of quixotic generosity and parvenu carelessness in her portrayal of a woman she refuses to lampoon.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The premiere will be closely watched in a changed TV landscape where the stakes in satirizing the president seem higher than ever, even for an institution that’s been lampooning leaders for half a century.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Spitting Image TV show, which lampooned celebrities, politicians and royals, was a huge hit for ITV when it first ran in the 1980s and 1990s.

Read more on BBC

The weekly Russian satire known as “Kukly” — or “Puppets,” in English — lampooned Russian leaders by rendering them as giant latex caricatures.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• caricature 
• mock 
• parody 
• satirize