Choose the Right Synonym for deride

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

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Deride is a combination of the prefix de- ("make lower") and ridēre, a Latin verb meaning "to laugh." Ridēre echoes in other English words as well, some common and some obscure. In the former category we have ridicule and ridiculous. Ridicule functions as both verb ("to make fun of") and noun ("the act of making fun of"), while ridiculous describes what arouses or deserves ridicule or mockery. Obscure ridēre words include arride (it has an obsolete meaning of "to smile or laugh at," and also means "to please, gratify, or delight") and irrision, a synonym of derision, the close noun relation of deride. Also in the category of obscure ridēre words is risorius; this medical term refers to a narrow band of facial muscle fibers that reach to the corners of the mouth to make smiling possible.

Examples of deride in a Sentence

my brothers derided our efforts, but were forced to eat their words when we won first place

Recent Examples on the Web Throughout his political career, Biden has cultivated a reputation for unscripted candor, a trait allies laud as humanizing but adversaries deride as undisciplined. — Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2022 While several people referenced the text of the law in the comment section, the Crazy Girl Saloon rep continued to deride those who sided with Miller. — Jay R. Jordan, Chron, 1 Mar. 2022 To punch down is to deride and shun people for things that O’Neil says are largely shaped by forces beyond their control; for her, these include addiction, obesity and poverty. — New York Times, 18 Mar. 2022 For a brief window, before the inevitable breakdown, these young women were so fleet-footed that Fleshman used to deride eating disorders as a form of cheating. — Nora Caplan-bricker, Outside Online, 23 June 2017 But lawmakers and union representatives deride the vacant positions across state government generally and say excessive use of contractors may be particularly wasteful and morale-busting in the medical examiner’s office. — Meredith Cohn, baltimoresun.com, 17 Feb. 2022 Books about a man being brutally tortured, nailed to slabs of wood, and then left to dangle there for three days while onlookers openly mock and deride him. — Johanna Gohmann, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2022 While some may deride such programs as soft on crime, the Adams plan is smart on crime. — Charles Fain Lehman, WSJ, 30 Jan. 2022 Turns out having three of the world’s biggest stars in your action-comedy-caper-whatever movie remains a pretty good recipe for success, even if critics deride the result as slick and derivative. — David Bloom, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deride.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.