- present participle of mock.
mocking
Americanadjective
noun
-
mockings
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mocking
First recorded in 1400–50; mock ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective; mock ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun
Explanation
When you talk to or about someone in a mocking tone, you're making fun of them in a nasty, mean way. But if you're a comedy writer or political satirist, a mocking attitude is a tool of your trade. If you're writing a skit about the outrageous proposal some politician has just made, you'll write it in a mocking tone, imitating the politician's voice and mannerisms in a way that makes him look as ridiculous as you think he is. Seen any mockingbirds lately? That's the bird that sings almost nonstop, imitating the calls of other birds.
Vocabulary lists containing mocking
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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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:
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
Lalas would return two days later, and get in a jab, mocking Zlatan’s light-colored suit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Italy reacted angrily on Friday after reported comments by US President Donald Trump mocking Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with the foreign minister cancelling a planned US visit.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
The Ukrainian president also requested a ceasefire, while striking a defiant, at-times mocking tone.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
She laughs like she's secretly mocking the entire world.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
A #nursewho hashtag emerged on Twitter, attached both to attacks on the casting and ironic mockings of the attackers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2017
The deceived maiden is cast down by the jeers and mockings of her erstwhile companions, and comforted by Siebel.
From A Book of Operas Their Histories, Their Plots, and Their Music by Henry Edward Krehbiel
Literature and the drama, representing life as it is dreamed by humanity, life as it perhaps may be some day, create an impression which defies the plain daily and hourly mockings of experience.
From The Grain of Dust by David Graham Phillips
Blessed be God, that no taunts or mockings could so move Him, Who suffered all for our sakes.
From "Granny's Chapters" (on scriptural subjects) by Lady Mary Ross
Thus with merry laughter, and jests, and mockings, they carried him up the street to the tower called the Red Sea, and there locked him up, well guarded.
From Sidonia, the Sorceress : the Supposed Destroyer of the Whole Reigning Ducal House of Pomerania — Volume 1 by Wilhelm Meinhold
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.
