noun
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a person who writes satire
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a person given to the use of satire
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of satirist
Explanation
A satirist is a writer or artist who uses biting humor and exaggerated language to make fun of someone. Political satirists often target candidates with cartoons that highlight their flaws. A skilled satirist can use something that seems silly or ridiculous at first glance to make a serious point. The work a satirist does, called satire, is all about using humor to show that public figures are weak or corrupt — and also to expose bigger societal issues. Today, a satirist might focus on a politician's refusal to acknowledge the reality of climate change, exposing both their dishonesty and the significance of the issue.
Vocabulary lists containing satirist
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.
The rest of his career was largely devoted to complicating and enriching the portrait, transforming himself, as his best biographer, James Gindin, observed, from a satirist into a practitioner of the “novel of compassion.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
“She was a social satirist who was very well aware of currents in sociology and, in particular, psychology and psychiatry, which she mocked in a gentle but devastating way.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
Allen may have surprised listeners who know the director as a master satirist of the flawed personality, but Maher was right on brand.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2025
Sir Terry Pratchett must be considered to be a superb satirist, a brilliant, imaginative writer.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2025
Now, he was a satirist, so he left it that way, and my father was, I guess I realized too late, a romantic, so he ended it another way.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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.
