satirize
Americanverb (used with object)
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:
The shorts often satirize Christmas traditions such as gift-giving and pageants.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
General stores sell figurines that satirize social media-obsessed tourists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025
“Heart Eyes” has two goals: satirize romantic comedies and squeeze the dregs from slasher clichés.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025
The fourth deals with a witch, giving them a chance to satirize conspiracy theorists.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
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
Jacobson lightly satirizes the attitudes, ranging from woke to just plain lazy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2024
Would you say this movie not only satirizes white Americans, but also Black Americans?
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
Lazarus' whole being satirizes the obscene extremes to which method actors go.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2023
Its titular star, who plays a version of himself and satirizes talk shows by putting unsuspecting celebrity guests through hellish interviews, has become considerably more famous since the series first aired over a decade ago.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2023
Erasmus, quoted, upon the monks, 66, 71; detested by Luther, 75; satirizes women, 181, 182.
From Caricature and Other Comic Art in all Times and many Lands. by Parton, James
Our critic said that in it influencer culture “is satirized with savage wit.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
The policing techniques satirized in the film may be futuristic, but its structure is fusty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
Scott Adams, the ‘Dilbert’ cartoonist who satirized a certain kind of workplace culture for more than 30 years before comments on race led to publishers cutting ties with him, has died at 68.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2026
“Critterz” is based on the 2023 AI-animated short of the same name that satirized nature documentaries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
Swift had written this squib by 1697, and by the time it appeared the conflict it satirized appeared to be over.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
I didn’t want to live in a world of satirizing this guy forever.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
Released in 1974, “Blazing Saddles” was both a critical and commercial hit that pushed the boundaries of mainstream studio comedy while satirizing racism, western mythology and Hollywood itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The rest of the Continental Congress balks, naturally, but the idea of the routine is far less about satirizing America than shoehorning Mr. David’s familiar shtick into an assortment of faux-historic scenarios.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Jared Keeso stars in this “Letterkenny” spinoff satirizing performative masculinity among a small-town Canadian hockey team.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
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
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.
