ridicule

²ridicule

verb

ridiculedridicul·ing

Definition of RIDICULE

transitive verb

: to make fun of

— rid·i·cul·er noun

Examples of RIDICULE

1. The other kids ridiculed him for the way he dressed.
2. They ridiculed all of her suggestions.

First Known Use of RIDICULE

circa 1700

Related to RIDICULE

Synonyms: deride, gibe (or jibe), jeer, laugh (at), mock, scout, shoot down, skewer, cock a snook (at) also cock snooks (at), make fun of, make sport of, poke fun at, rag on

Related Words: scoff (at), scorn, sneer (at); bad-mouth, belittle, decry, disparage, pooh-pooh (also pooh), put down; chaff, jive, josh, kid, quiz, rally, razz, rib, ride, tease, tweak, twit; bait, barrack [chiefly British], bug, catcall, harass, harry, hassle, heckle, needle, pester, rag, target, taunt, torment; ape, burlesque, caricature, imitate, lampoon, mimic, parody, parrot, pillory, satirize, take off (on), travesty

Near Antonyms: applaud, approve, commend, endorse (also indorse), sanction

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Synonym Discussion of RIDICULE

ridicule, deride, mock, taunt mean to make an object of laughter of. ridicule implies a deliberate often malicious belittling <consistently ridiculed everything she said>. deride suggests contemptuous and often bitter ridicule <derided their efforts to start their own business>. mock implies scorn often ironically expressed as by mimicry or sham deference <youngsters began to mock the helpless wino>. taunt suggests jeeringly provoking insult or challenge <hometown fans taunted the visiting team>.