ridicule
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Related Words
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
- ridiculer noun
- self-ridicule noun
- unridiculed adjective
Etymology
Origin of ridicule
First recorded in 1665–75; from Latin rīdiculum “a joke,” equivalent to rīdēre “to laugh” + -i- -i- + -culum -cule 2
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.
When Dolly was in third grade, her mother used scraps of fabric to make her a “coat of many colors,” which a “mean girl” ridiculed.
"For example, a tweet being shared to allege homophobia on my part was actually ridiculing homophobia," he said.
From BBC
According to the etymonline site, as a verb, it originally meant to “ridicule; deceive with a fabrication.”
From Salon
By the accession of Leopold II in 1790, an empire based on a “feudal hierarchy of status” found itself in the age of Romantic nationalism, democracy and “enlightened ridicule.”
“I wanted to laugh with them and sometimes their naivete is funny and endearing. But I never wanted to ridicule them. Of course, it’s a very scary thing to try and do.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
