satire

sat·ire

noun \ˈsa-ˌtī(-ə)r\

: a way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc. : humor that shows the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government, society, etc.

: a book, movie, etc., that uses satire

Full Definition of SATIRE

1

:  a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn

2

:  trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly

Examples of SATIRE

1. His movies are known for their use of satire.
2. The movie is a political satire.
3. By contrast, Martial's friend, Juvenal, learned to transmute Martial's epigrammatic wit into savage satire. Juvenal's fierce, if occasionally obscene, tirades against immorality fit easily into the propaganda of the new era. —G. W. Bowersock, New York Review of Books, 26 Feb. 2009
4. Unlike late-night talk shows that traffic in Hollywood interviews and stupid pet tricks, “The Daily Show” is a fearless social satire. Not many comedy shows would dare do five minutes on the intricacies of medicare or a relentlessly cheeky piece on President George W. Bush's Thanksgiving trip to Iraq … —Marc Peyser, Newsweek, 29 Dec. 2003 - 5 Jan. 2004
5. Saturday Night Live alum Bill Murray stars in this film about Army basic training, and it features Second City TV veterans John Candy and Harold Ramis. Director Ivan Reitman co-produced Animal House. Do not, however, expect a devastating satire on the military; this film is so innocuous that the Defense Department let Reitman use Fort Knox, Ky. to make it. —People, 27 July 1981

Origin of SATIRE

Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin satura, satira, perhaps from (lanx) satura dish of mixed ingredients, from feminine of satur well-fed; akin to Latin satis enough — more at sad

First Known Use: 1501

Related to SATIRE

Synonyms

lampoon, pasquinade

Related Words

burlesque, caricature, parody, spoof, takeoff; comedy, farce, sketch, skit, slapstick, squib; derision, ridicule; cartoon, mockery, travesty

See Synonym Discussion at wit

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with SATIRE

attire, backfire, bemire, catch fire, cross fire, denier, desire, entire, for hire, fox fire, Greek fire, grey friar, hang fire, hellfire, live wire, on fire, prior, rimfire, sapphire, sea fire, snow tire, town crier, trip wire, umpire, watch fire, white friar

satire

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Artistic form in which human or individual vices, folly, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to bring about improvement. Literature and drama are its chief vehicles, but it is also found in such mediums as film, the visual arts (e.g., caricatures), and political cartoons. Though present in Greek literature, notably in the works of Aristophanes, satire generally follows the example of either of two Romans, Horace or Juvenal. To Horace the satirist is an urbane man of the world who sees folly everywhere but is moved to gentle laughter rather than to rage. Juvenal's satirist is an upright man who is horrified and angered by corruption. Their different perspectives produced the subgenres of satire identified by John Dryden as comic satire and tragic satire.