mocking

[mok-ing]

adjective

1. showing ridicule, contempt, or derision.

   Elsewhere along the parade route, small bands of protesters held mocking signs.

noun

1. contemptuous, derisive, and usually imitative speech or action.

   Jake just turned his face away and took the mocking and ridicule his brothers dished out.

Other Word Forms

• mockingly adverb
• self-mocking adjective
• unmocking adjective
• unmockingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of mocking¹

First recorded in 1400–50; mock ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective; mock ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun

Example Sentences

An eight-year veteran of “The Daily Show,” and host of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2023, Wood has lots of experience in mocking elected officials.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In the social-media response to his death, hundreds of thousands of Americans clicked the laughing emoji on their feeds, mocking health insurers while sharing their own frustrations with the system.

Read more on MarketWatch

The mocking remark about pie or, rather, PIE, spurred her to act.

Read more on Literature

With a mocking “Caw! Caw! Ahoooooooy!” it darted back the way it came.

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In fact, you could say this completely computer-generated country singer found chart success by mocking people.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• derisive 
• sarcastic