Definition of DERIDE

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

Did You Know?

When deride was borrowed into English in the 16th century, it came to us by combining the prefix de- with ridēre, a Latin verb meaning "to laugh." Ridēre is also the ancestor of the English words risible ("laughable") and ridiculous. Of course, English has a number of words meaning "to laugh at unkindly"; in addition to deride, we have ridicule, mock, and taunt. Deride suggests laughter loaded with contemptuousness or bitterness, whereas ridicule implies a deliberate often malicious belittling ("consistently ridiculed everything she said"). Mock implies scorn often ironically expressed by mimicry or sham deference ("mocking the speaker's impassioned tones"). Taunt suggests jeeringly provoking insult or challenge ("hometown fans taunted the visiting team").

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

Hundreds of women from 47 states gathered in Freedom Plaza, robed in white and carrying signs deriding the Trump administration’s ‘‘zero-tolerance’’ immigration policy. — Marissa J. Lang, BostonGlobe.com, "Hundreds of women in D.C. protest ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy," 28 June 2018 Although few derided past presidents’ ultimately naive dreams of working with Putin, Trump’s professed identical goal is sending visible willies through Democrats and European allies alike. — Andrew Malcolm, SFChronicle.com, "Will Trump stand up to Putin or fall for him?," 12 July 2018 Trump also used his Montana speech to deride Rep. Maxine Waters, the veteran Democratic lawmaker from California whose call for aggressive protests against Trump administration officials drew the president's ire last month. — Felicia Sonmez, courant.com, "Trump mocks #MeToo movement in Montana rally," 6 July 2018 Image HONG KONG — Once derided as a technology backwater and copycat, China is justifiably proud of its technology boom. — New York Times, "ZTE’s Near-Collapse May Be China’s Sputnik Moment," 10 June 2018 The Bee/Barr debacle comes on the heels of Michelle Wolf’s polarizing comments at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which prompted similar outrage when Wolf supposedly derided Sarah Sanders’s looks. — Bridget Read, Vogue, "No, Samantha Bee Did Not Pull a Roseanne With Her Ivanka Trump Comments," 31 May 2018 While Amazon was once derided as a profit-free zone, the extraordinary success of Amazon Web Services is changing that. — Alan Murray, Fortune, "Korea Breakthrough, Bezos Wealth, Wells Probe: CEO Daily for April 27, 2018," 27 Apr. 2018 Although long derided as pseudoscience and still questioned by many medical experts, acupuncture is increasingly being embraced by patients and doctors, sometimes as an alternative to the powerful painkillers behind the nation’s opioid crisis. — Jennifer Mcdermott, Washington Post, "Stuck in an opioids crisis, officials turn to acupuncture," 20 Feb. 2018 The activists pack the township’s tiny boardroom on the second Monday of every month to attempt to shame and deride Brannigan for her comments. — Zak Koeske, Daily Southtown, "Palos Township trustee says she won't resign a year after Facebook comments about Middle Eastern immigrants ignited protests," 11 July 2018

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.