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:
Fans were asked not to leave socks on the mock grave, made of pebbles with messages written on them, because the beach was environmentally sensitive.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Cheer him, mock him or despise him; he’ll be here all week, so try the veal.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
Their California property—a four-bedroom, four-bathroom mock Tudor abode in Pacific Palisades—was purchased by the duo for $2.55 million in 1990.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
El-Sayed at one point had to direct his supporters not to mock Stevens in gross personal terms online.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
Still on the ground, they writhed in mock agony and made their dying dodo noises.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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
Outside, a crescent moon mocks her from its perch.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
The single star was painted in berry juice, as was the bear, which looked so porcine that Mexicans who were struggling to protect California from Yankee rogues mocked it as more pig than bear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Opposition MPs later mocked some of those efforts in parliament, arguing it was easier to change camera angles than answer students' concerns.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
More devastating, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, mocked Trump’s plan to charge tolls.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
But in her outraged response, Stuckey became most emotional over an aside in which I mocked her for denying that dinosaurs existed millions of years before humans.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
He didn’t really blame them; he looked like the kind of person you did that to, mocked.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
It’s funny, my mother used to look at me with an expression that was neither mocking nor exasperated, merely seasoned, and say, “Baby, not everything needs to be a production.”
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
As the final whistle blew, social media lit up with a flood of mocking posts.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Some videos make it onto Brovdi's social media accounts -- where he is followed by hundreds of thousands -- with cartoony music and mocking captions.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
The company unveiled the collaboration on its website with a video of the auteur using Flux to storyboard scenes, which involves mocking up shots before filming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
“I suppose you do it to keep your figure,” he added in a mocking tone.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
