ridicule
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
Ridicule, deride, mock, taunt imply making game of a person, usually in an unkind, jeering way. To ridicule is to make fun of, either sportively and good-humoredly, or unkindly with the intention of humiliating: to ridicule a pretentious person. To deride is to assail one with scornful laughter: to deride a statement of belief. To mock is sometimes playfully, sometimes insultingly, to imitate and caricature the appearance or actions of another: She mocked the seriousness of his expression. To taunt is to call attention to something annoying or humiliating, usually maliciously and exultingly and often in the presence of others: to taunt a candidate about his defeat in an election.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ridiculesimple
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ridiculessimple
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have ridiculedperfect
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has ridiculedperfect
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am ridiculingprogressive
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are ridiculingprogressive
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is ridiculingprogressive
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have been ridiculingperfect progressive
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has been ridiculingperfect progressive
Past
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ridiculedsimple
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had ridiculedperfect
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was ridiculingprogressive
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were ridiculingprogressive
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had been ridiculingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ridicule
First recorded in 1665–75; from Latin rīdiculum “a joke,” equivalent to rīdēre “to laugh” + -i- -i- + -culum -cule 2
Explanation
When you ridicule someone, you mock or make fun of them. They become the object of your ridicule or mockery. Your bad behavior might bring ridicule on your parents, who raised you to know better. The word ridicule is related to ridiculous. If you ridicule a friend, you try to make them look ridiculous. But now that isn't very friendly! Both words come from the Latin redire which means to laugh. When you are ridiculed, you are made a laughing stock, but being the object of ridicule is never funny.
Vocabulary lists containing ridicule
List 6
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English Words Derived from French, List 1
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Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
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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:
This is particularly the case amongst the country's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu - and has become a subject of debate and in some cases ridicule for the men with female surnames.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
He faced ridicule after belatedly acknowledging that he played tennis during the day, a detail that was left out his initial accounts.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
She’s let her hair go gray but kept up her tan, and she’s careful not to ridicule the ways her body has changed with age.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Indeed, “Apartment House” got the lion’s share of bicentennial attention and ridicule.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
“Luke,” she asked, going slowly for fear of ridicule, “why do people want to talk to each other? I mean, what are the things people always want to find out about other people?”
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
The premise is simple — Scorsese, perfectionist filmmaker, mercilessly ridicules the photos he took of his nephew’s birthday party — but it’s his deadpan performance that really sells the joke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025
When Harris doubts or ridicules his stature, his wealth, the size of his crowds, or whatever, he feels compelled to fight back and restore his eminent centrality at once.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2024
A majority of consumers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent are not willing to shrug off media and advertising that ridicules or mishandles their culture.
From Seattle Times ● May 1, 2024
Libii’s story underlines the self-negation involved in the trope of the title and ridicules the expectations and constraints forced upon Black people in myriad ways.
From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
He doesn’t take their money and usually doesn’t shove them, but he ridicules them.
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
Cusack said his daughter, who was prescribed medication, felt that if she used her mental health as an "excuse" she "would be out" of the team, and feared being stigmatised and ridiculed.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
As to those analogues: Jackson ridiculed Alito’s refusal to acknowledge that they show how “states routinely required affirmative consent for armed carry onto private property” at the founding.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
In SpaceX’s early days, some industry and government officials ridiculed the idea that a startup with no ties to major aeronautical firms could compete against established contractors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
When she did, she was maliciously disbelieved and ridiculed by the likes of Drake and 50 Cent.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2026
If you are spotted picking your nose in class, you get ridiculed.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
At a demonstration outside the Parliament building in the Bulgarian capital, a giant screen looped videos and memes ridiculing politicians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
Both Daniels and Trump, who is the actual defendant, come out of these exchanges sounding like schoolchildren ridiculing each other.
From Slate ● May 10, 2024
But those bands did so at their own risk; in those days Mr. Albini was also known for ridiculing the bands he recorded after the fact.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2024
The shortness of the launch video has not stopped critics from ridiculing the brand.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2024
He’s gaining volume and kind of enjoying ridiculing me, the way somebody just a few years older than you can love power more than genuinely old people like your parents.
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
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.
