deride
Americanverb (used with object)
-
derides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
derided,
past participle, past
-
deriding
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See ridicule.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
deridesimple
-
deridessimple
-
have deridedperfect
-
has deridedperfect
-
am deridingprogressive
-
are deridingprogressive
-
is deridingprogressive
-
have been deridingperfect progressive
-
has been deridingperfect progressive
Past
-
deridedsimple
-
had deridedperfect
-
was deridingprogressive
-
were deridingprogressive
-
had been deridingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deride
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin dērīdēre “to mock,” equivalent to dē- de- + rīdēre “to laugh”
Explanation
The verb deride means to speak to someone with contempt or show a low opinion of someone or something. A bully might constantly deride other kids in his class — which might lead to many afternoons spent in the principal's office. To "ride" people is to get on their case or give them a hard time, and to deride is to do the same with insulting language or poor treatment. Deride comes from the Latin root dērīdēre, meaning "to ridicule, to scorn," and it's often used to express dislike or even hatred. Criticizing something with words is a common way to deride, and politicians often deride each other in their speeches during election campaigns.
Vocabulary lists containing deride
Advanced English Words
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Warm-up, List 3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Dubliners
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Emilia, by contrast, is a strikingly modern figure in her cynical assessments of the hypocrisy of a culture that will deride women for sexual behavior that wouldn’t be censured in men.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Today many on the right still deride the Carter years but as the decades passed, his humanitarian efforts and simple lifestyle began to shape a new legacy for many Americans.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2024
To silo or deride the mission of Alanis is to file it away as “female complaint.”
From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2024
Fans have collections numbering in the hundreds, while critics deride them as kitsch.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024
M. M. C.’s letter is just one of many that deride Joey’s arrival.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Among the low performers are one that he derides as packed with tourists, another "with barking dogs," and a third he says is "quiet but with no one to talk to."
From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026
The American Mini Pig Association derides the use of terms like “teacup” as misleading and discourages promises of adult pigs under 75 pounds in its code of ethics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
With searing yet quiet familiarity, Victor derides the way trauma is handled with callous frigidity.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2025
But Mr. Go derides the notion, using a World War II analogy.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 10, 2023
He derides the prophet: "Go home, old man, and forecast for thy children!"
From Homer's Odyssey A Commentary by Denton Jaques Snider
Mellencamp once derided his albums from the ’90s as “paint-by-numbers” affairs that he only made because he couldn’t get out of his record deal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Now, sociology, long derided by many academics in humanities and the “harder” social sciences for its perceived squishiness, is being criticized from within.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
She lives in the deprived East Marsh area of Grimsby, a neighbourhood she says is often derided as a place of crime and unemployment.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
The vote was widely derided by democracy monitors abroad, but China supports it as recreating a semblance of normality, analysts say.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Everything was custom engineered—“no hand-me-down magnets, no industrial discards . . . ‘no patch work,’ ” as the Joliots’ emissary Maurice Nahmias had derided the old standards.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
It was perhaps inevitable that judges would bristle at a government spokeswoman deriding them as hacks.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2026
He was popular, but for a long time the critics condescended to him, calling him a lightweight Sunday painter and deriding him for his “matchstick” figures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
At the Border Patrol’s takeover of MacArthur Park earlier this month, Newman was there shooting video and deriding the spectacle as “a dystopian episode of ‘The Apprentice.’”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
What’s worse is that “Death of a Unicorn” hit theaters close to the same time the far superior satire “Common Side Effects” finished its first season, deriding the same topic.
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2025
How I blessed those stolid, flannelled figures, for in a few minutes his face had settled back into repose, the colour had returned, and he was deriding the Surrey bowling in healthy irritation.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
