mockingbird
Americannoun
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any of several gray, black, and white songbirds of the genus Mimus, especially M. polyglottos, of the U.S. and Mexico, noted for their ability to mimic the songs of other birds.
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any of various related or similar birds, as Melanotis caerulescens blue mockingbird, of Mexico.
noun
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any American songbird of the family Mimidae, having a long tail and grey plumage: noted for their ability to mimic the song of other birds
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a small scrub bird, Atrichornis rufescens , noted for its mimicry
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mockingbird
1670–80, mocking ( def. ) + bird
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:
They want to replace the mockingbird, which has held the top perch for 99 years, with the American flamingo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
"There's that mockingbird out there," Wayne tells Stella, as smiles flicker across their faces.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2025
They also recognized acorn woodpeckers, a California towhee, dozens of turkey vultures circling overhead, a dark-eyed junco, a mockingbird, an Anna’s hummingbird and a black phoebe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2023
“This started as a drawing and became a collage which I’ve just completed. It’s a mockingbird, and some of the pieces of paper are piano sheet music.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
Who will buy me a looking glass that gets broke and a mockingbird that won’t sing?
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Perhaps not in the key some of us wanted to hear but then, some folks find mockingbirds annoying, too.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
Smaller birds defer to bigger birds, scooting off the feeding bench when jays or mockingbirds come in for a landing.
From Washington Post ● May 9, 2022
Others were complicated with squiggles, lots of stripes and flourishes including ivy, eagles, ducks, mockingbirds, deer, bees and catfish.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 3, 2020
From outside would come the resolute tapping of woodpeckers and the morning calls of gray catbirds, brown thrashers, and mockingbirds, all singing their hearts out.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2019
My nostrils quivered as I felt the song of the mockingbirds and the drone of the grasshoppers mingle with the pulse of the earth.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
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.
