satirize
Americanverb (used with object)
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satirizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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satirized,
past participle, past
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satirizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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satirizationnoun
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satirizernoun
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nonsatirizingadjective
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satirizableadjective
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unsatirizableadjective
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unsatirizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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satirizesimple
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satirizessimple
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have satirizedperfect
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has satirizedperfect
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am satirizingprogressive
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are satirizingprogressive
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is satirizingprogressive
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have been satirizingperfect progressive
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has been satirizingperfect progressive
Past
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satirizedsimple
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had satirizedperfect
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was satirizingprogressive
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were satirizingprogressive
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had been satirizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of satirize
Explanation
When you cleverly make fun of something, you satirize it. Political cartoons, for example, satirize current events and politicians using clever drawings and captions. When a writer criticizes something using humor, she satirizes it. Playwrights and filmmakers often satirize ridiculous social customs by reflecting them in exaggerated ways, for example. Ideally, when an artist satirizes society, she hopes to encourage positive changes by making people feel ashamed or embarrassed. The root of satirize is the noun satire, which in classical Latin meant a kind of poem that "ridiculed vice or folly."
Vocabulary lists containing satirize
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:
“Idiocracy,” on the other hand, was as cheap as the mid-aughts culture it was setting out to satirize.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
But in her novel, rather than satirize or steamroll, Shriver takes her open-armed and open-borders characters as seriously and empathetically as her anti-immigration ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
Just two years after “Cruise” debuted, duo Maddie & Tae had heard enough about arm candy and daisy dukes to satirize the subgenre’s views on women with 2015’s “Girl in a Country Song.”
From Salon ● May 16, 2025
The essayist’s power lies in his willingness to satirize the inherent absurdity of life without ever downplaying what it means to be human.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025
And there is always the non-productive brotherhood of critics to disparage and to satirize, to view with horror and contempt.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
As an art-house film that satirizes American culture through the lens of a non-American like Inarritu, "Digger" was perhaps destined to be a heavy lift.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
HBO’s “I Love LA” satirizes the Los Angeles entertainment industry, with influencers, nepo-babies and the rich and famous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Angela Anh Nguyen is a Los Angeles-based fiber artist whose work satirizes the mayhem of America’s culture wars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2023
Lazarus' whole being satirizes the obscene extremes to which method actors go.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2023
The American etholog never satirizes democracy, or the politician, or the newspaper.
From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by William Graham Sumner
Our critic said that in it influencer culture “is satirized with savage wit.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
Before starting Lucy, Coogan co-founded Soylent, the liquid meal replacement of choice for techies a decade ago that was widely satirized in pop culture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
Mild summer temperatures in Los Angeles, where the downtown high has averaged about 82 degrees in July, also have been satirized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2025
Ed Park’s debut, ‘Personal Days,’ satirized office culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
Dave Barry’s “Ask Mr. Language Person” satirized their typical advisory: writing tip for professionals: To make your writing more appealing to the reader, avoid “writing negatively.”
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
I didn’t want to live in a world of satirizing this guy forever.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
A year after he lampooned a judge in a mocking poem, he had the misfortune of standing before him charged with seditious libel for a pamphlet satirizing the Church.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
Jared Keeso stars in this “Letterkenny” spinoff satirizing performative masculinity among a small-town Canadian hockey team.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
Blichfeldt films all this with an unblinking eye, satirizing the lengths women go to in order to reach the standards of beauty they feel they must achieve.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
Eventually Threpe was called up onto the stage where he sang a scathing little ditty of his own design, satirizing one of Tarbean’s councilmen.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
