mockery

American  

[mok-uh-ree] / ˈmɒk ə ri /

noun

• mockeries
  plural

1. ridicule, contempt, or derision.

2. a derisive, imitative action or speech.

3. a subject or occasion of derision.

4. an imitation, especially of a ridiculous or unsatisfactory kind.

   Synonyms:

   mimicry

5. a mocking pretense; travesty.

   a mockery of justice.

6. something absurdly or offensively inadequate or unfitting.

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mockery British  

/ ˈmɒkərɪ /

noun

1. ridicule, contempt, or derision

2. a derisive action or comment

3. an imitation or pretence, esp a derisive one

4. a person or thing that is mocked

5. a person, thing, or action that is inadequate or disappointing

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-mockery
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mockeries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mockery

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English moquerie, from Middle French; equivalent to mock + -ery

Explanation

The noun mockery means ridicule or making a fool out of someone. Mockery of your history teacher is unwise just before she grades your mid-term exams. Mockery is making fun of or mocking someone or something. The act of mockery often involves copying someone's behavior or speech, making it look absurd, like a parody. For example, comedians often get laughs with mockery, by pretending to be famous politicians and exaggerating the way they talk or gesture. The expression "to make a mockery of" means to make something appear foolish or absurd, even if that’s not the intent — like a trial that “makes a mockery of justice.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mockery mockeries

But the videos themselves became a subject of further mockery online.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Now, after much mockery and controversy, minimalist footwear is hotter than ever.

From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026

Then again, you could argue the Dodgers already are making a mockery of the NL West.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

"To have it suspended for a year makes a mockery of the whole tournament," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

Then he spoke softly and there was no mockery in his voice.

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse

Why have our finest actors been forced to make mockeries of themselves, looking like the Jolly Green Giant if he were holding a normal-sized microphone?

From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2026

Mena believes the Black Paintings to be mockeries in the same spirit – cartoons he drew around himself as if the walls were “big sheets of paper”.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 30, 2019

But his daughter Meghan McCain, who has become a kind of spokeswoman for the family, recently called Trump's repeated, onstage mockeries of her father “gross.”

From Washington Post ● Jun. 26, 2018

Boston Dynamics’ creatures are like cruel, surreal techno-parodies of organic life, absurdist mockeries of living things.

From Slate ● Dec. 20, 2013

"Well, well!" sighed Jack, as he closed his eyes, and appeared as if indulging in a revery, "of all the mockeries I have lived to see unmasked, this is the worst and meanest."

From The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever

Related Words

• contempt
• derision
• disdain
• ridicule
• scorn