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
Examples of ridicule in a Sentence
Noun
She didn't show anyone her artwork for fear of ridicule.
the early efforts by the suffragists to obtain voting rights for women were met with ridiculeVerb
The other kids ridiculed him for the way he dressed.
They ridiculed all of her suggestions.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Advertisement The anti-aging movement has also gotten a boost — and a fair share of ridicule — from extreme tales of rich immortality biohackers such as Los Angeles multimillionaire Bryan Johnson, who claims that death is no longer inevitable.—Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2024 According to the National Health Institute — Emotional abuse is often a precursor to physical abuse and can include verbal assault, dominance, control, isolation, ridicule, or the use of intimate knowledge for degradation.—Jasmine Elise, Essence, 24 May 2024
Verb
His margin of victory in his own constituency, Varanasi, dropped sharply; Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Party leader Modi has repeatedly ridiculed, won both his seats handsomely.—Salil Tripathi, TIME, 5 June 2024 For all the hard-right’s unity in wanting to keep migrants out, ridicule climate measures as woke fiction and uphold conservative family values, there also are fundamental divergences.—Eli Joseph, Fortune Europe, 5 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for ridicule
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ridicule.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
French or Latin; French, from Latin ridiculum jest
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