Ridicule definition |Dictionary.com

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ridicule

6 dictionary results for: Ridicule

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

rid·i·cule

[rid-i-kyool] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -culed, -cul·ing.

–noun

1.	speech or action intended to cause contemptuous laughter at a person or thing; derision.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to deride; make fun of.

[Origin: 1665–75; < L rīdiculum a joke, equiv. to rīd(ére) to laugh + -i- -i- + -culum -cule²

]

—Related forms

rid·i·cul·er, noun

—Synonyms 1. mockery, raillery, sarcasm, satire, irony. 2. banter, chaff, rally, twit, burlesque, satirize, lampoon. 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.

—Antonyms praise.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

rid·i·cule   (rĭd'ĭ-kyōōl') Pronunciation Key
n.   Words or actions intended to evoke contemptuous laughter at or feelings toward a person or thing: "I know that ridicule may be a shield, but it is not a weapon" (Dorothy Parker).

tr.v.   rid·i·culed, rid·i·cul·ing, rid·i·cules
To expose to ridicule; make fun of.

[French, from Latin rīdiculum, joke, from neuter of rīdiculus, laughable; see ridiculous.]

rid'i·cul'er n.

Synonyms: These verbs refer to making another the butt of amusement or mirth. Ridicule implies purposeful disparagement: "My father discouraged me by ridiculing my performances" (Benjamin Franklin).
To mock is to poke fun at someone, often by mimicking and caricaturing speech or actions: "Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort/As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit" (Shakespeare).
Taunt suggests mocking, insulting, or scornful reproach: "taunting him with want of courage to leap into the great pit" (Daniel Defoe).
To twit is to taunt by calling attention to something embarrassing: "The schoolmaster was twitted about the lady who threw him over" (J.M. Barrie).
Deride implies scorn and contempt: "Was all the world in a conspiracy to deride his failure?" (Edith Wharton).

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

ridicule
noun
1.	language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate
2.	the act of deriding or treating with contempt [syn: derision]
verb
1.	subject to laughter or ridicule; "The satirists ridiculed the plans for a new opera house"; "The students poked fun at the inexperienced teacher"; "His former students roasted the professor at his 60th birthday"

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ridicule

Rid"i*cule\, n. [F. ridicule, L. ridiculum a jest, fr. ridiculus. See Ridiculous.]

1. An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter.

[Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries. --Buckle.

To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a ridicule. --Foxe.

2. Remarks concerning a subject or a person designed to excite laughter with a degree of contempt; wit of that species which provokes contemptuous laughter; disparagement by making a person an object of laughter; banter; -- a term lighter than derision.

We have in great measure restricted the meaning of ridicule, which would properly extend over whole region of the ridiculous, -- the laughable, -- and we have narrowed it so that in common usage it mostly corresponds to "derision", which does indeed involve personal and offensive feelings. --Hare.

Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne, Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. --Pope.

3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.]

To see the ridicule of this practice. --Addison.

Syn: Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony; satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer.

Usage: Ridicule, Derision, Both words imply disapprobation; but ridicule usually signifies good-natured, fun-loving opposition without manifest malice, while derision is commonly bitter and scornful, and sometimes malignant.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ridicule

Rid"i*cule\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ridiculed;p. pr. & vb. n. Ridiculing.] To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule toward or respecting.

I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage. --Goldsmith.

Syn: To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize; lampoon. See Deride.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ridicule

Rid"i*cule\, a. [F.] Ridiculous. [Obs.]

This action . . . became so ridicule. --Aubrey.

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