derision

de·ri·sion

noun \di-ˈri-zhən\

Definition of DERISION

1

a : the use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt b : a state of being laughed at or ridiculed : a state of being derided

2

: an object of ridicule or scorn

Examples of DERISION

1. One of the students laughed in derision at my error.
2. The team's awful record has made it an object of derision in the league.
3. “Nerd” is a term of derision.
4. My remarks were anodyne, but some other snippets of marginalia were shrieks of derision… —Paul Theroux, Granta 44, Summer 1993
5. Britain had its boffins, working researchers subject to the derision of intellectual gentlemen. —James Gleick, Genius: The Life & Science of Richard Feynman, 1992
6. … discussion, laughter, lecturing, but no shouts or threats, no yardsticks banging for silence, no words of shame or derision. —Lorene Cary, Black Ice, 1991
7. The whole idea of Camelot excites derision. In fact, I am sure Kennedy would have derided it himself. No one at the time ever thought of his Washington as Camelot. —Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Cycles of American History, 1986

Origin of DERISION

Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin derision-, derisio, from Latin deridēre (see deride)

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to DERISION

Synonyms: butt, laughingstock, jest, joke, mark, mock, mockery, sport, target

Related Words: chump, dupe, fall guy, fool, gull, monkey, pigeon, sap, sucker, victim

Near Antonyms: darling, favorite, pet

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Rhymes with DERISION

abscission, collision, concision, decision, division, dream vision, elision, elysian, envision, excision, incision, misprision, North Frisian, Parisian, precisian, precision, prevision, provision, recision, rescission, revision