ridicule
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
ridicules,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ridiculed,
past participle, past
-
ridiculing
present participle
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
-
ridiculesimple
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ridiculessimple
-
have ridiculedperfect
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has ridiculedperfect
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am ridiculingprogressive
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are ridiculingprogressive
-
is ridiculingprogressive
-
have been ridiculingperfect progressive
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has been ridiculingperfect progressive
Past
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ridiculedsimple
-
had ridiculedperfect
-
was ridiculingprogressive
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were ridiculingprogressive
-
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
English Words Derived from French, List 1
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List 6
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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:
"He was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life," Baron-Cohen said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
It was a humiliating showing for the 63-year-old Bucknor, drawing ridicule from players and fans alike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 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
Both facts made me an object of curiosity—and ridicule.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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
Padden said during an announcement of the bill that “it ridicules and demeans people.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
Reclaiming Native Truth also ridicules the tendency to treat Native peoples as dinosaurs – some species that once roamed the Earth, but no longer lives in the modern world.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2023
However, the medical community ridicules him for the effort, and he’s never able to repeat his success.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
However, Kim Yo Jong ridiculed Lee's latest overture, calling it "the climax of the farce that everyone should watch."
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
As I moved from darkened room to darkened room, ridiculed in one, flirted with in another, a thread of finding one’s own personal paradise in a hellscape began to emerge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg even made it a point to ride his bike to work, a choice that Trump ridiculed.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
We were taken to task for overlooking any of more than 30 other intense rivalries and ridiculed for failing to appreciate that England vs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
She even ridiculed him in her mind and was a little ashamed of the association.
From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
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
I’m ridiculing it in a way, where I let it take over me, but I also take it over.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 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
It wasn’t a ridiculing laugh; it was a happy laugh at a good joke.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
