mock

verb

\ˈmäk,

ˈmȯk\

mocked; mocking; mocks

Definition of mock

(Entry 1 of 4)

transitive verb

1 : to treat with contempt or ridicule : deride he has been mocked as a mama's boy— C. P. Pierce

2 : to disappoint the hopes of for any government to mock men's hopes with mere words and promises and gestures— D. D. Eisenhower

3 : defy, challenge the unstable, strange new world of subatomic particles that mock all attempts at understanding— Philip Howard

4a : to imitate (someone or something) closely : mimic a mockingbird was mocking a cardinal— Nelson Hayes

b : to mimic in sport or derision followed the old man along the street mocking his gait

intransitive verb

: jeer, scoff she … mocked at his piety as affectation— Ferdinand Schevill

mock

noun

Definition of mock (Entry 2 of 4)

1 : an act of ridicule or derision : jeer

2 : one that is an object of derision or scorn

3 : mockery

4a : an act of imitation

b : something made as an imitation

mock

adjective

Definition of mock (Entry 3 of 4)

: of, relating to, or having the character of an imitation : simulated, feigned the mock solemnity of the parody

mock

adverb

Definition of mock (Entry 4 of 4)

: in an insincere or counterfeit manner —usually used in combination mock-serious

Other Words from mock Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about mock

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Choose the Right Synonym for mock

Verb

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

copy, imitate, mimic, ape, mock mean to make something so that it resembles an existing thing. copy suggests duplicating an original as nearly as possible. copied the painting and sold the fake as an original imitate suggests following a model or a pattern but may allow for some variation. imitate a poet's style mimic implies a close copying (as of voice or mannerism) often for fun, ridicule, or lifelike imitation. pupils mimicking their teacher ape may suggest presumptuous, slavish, or inept imitating of a superior original. American fashion designers aped their European colleagues mock usually implies imitation with derision. mocking a vain man's pompous manner

Examples of mock in a Sentence

Verb

The boys mocked him for showing fear. He mocks art only because he doesn't understand it. They continue to mock the idea of a new government. We are being mocked for our religious beliefs. You can mock me as much as you like, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Noun

they made a mock of the new recruit in front of the whole unit obviously, the “priceless” Grecian urn that is destroyed in the movie was a mock

Adjective

We stared at him in mock surprise. Every summer, our history club performs mock battles to relive our country's greatest war.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Before the 2016 campaign, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s call to expand Medicare to all Americans was seen as a fringe idea, mocked as implausible. — Janet Hook, WSJ, "What the Midterm Election Shows: America’s Two Parties Live In Divergent Worlds," 7 Nov. 2018 Take body-shaming out of your vocabulary Since before Trump was elected, media personalities (especially comedians) have made much sport of using innuendo to mock his genitals. — Samantha Riedel, Teen Vogue, "How to Break Away From the Gender Binary," 26 Oct. 2018 The White House noted that Kavanaugh wasn’t arrested or charged, and mocked the incident as irrelevant. — Michael Balsamo, The Seattle Times, "Kavanaugh accusers’ lawyers question FBI’s work so far," 3 Oct. 2018 Their children were ostracized and mocked for being the children of garbagemen. — Kirsten West Savali, The Root, "Watch: The Memphis Sanitation Strike Ends," 18 Apr. 2018 Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham is expected back at work on Monday following a backlash by advertisers upset over her tweet mocking a Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor. — David Bauder, BostonGlobe.com, "Ingraham due back at Fox following tweet backlash, vacation," 7 Apr. 2018 Going for an iconic face rather than a skilled musical theater performer to play King Herod, the production settled for a near-immobile Alice Cooper, who was more of a sneering geriatric rocker than a mocking vaudevillian. — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert': TV Review," 2 Apr. 2018 And then, at a rally five days later, Trump mocked Dr. Ford’s testimony, to laughter from his audience. — Jennifer Wright, Harper's BAZAAR, "We're Living in a Time of Cruel Laughing Men," 17 Oct. 2018 Instead of mocking her addiction, the response has been overwhelmingly supportive. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "Lady Gaga's 2009 MTV Video Music Awards Performance Was a Warning Pop Culture Needed," 17 Aug. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The airport is building mock-ups and letting passengers vote. — Scott Mccartney, WSJ, "Denver: The WSJ Airport Rankings’ Rocky Mountain High-Scorer," 14 Nov. 2018 On a mock-up rendering of the flight, the plane traverses the U.S. eastern seaboard before skirting the Arctic Circle's edge and descending into Greek and eventually Turkish airspace. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "A Turkish Airlines Flight Flew an Extra 800 Miles and Still Landed on Time," 23 Oct. 2018 Linebacker Devin White, who finished with 133 tackles a season ago, also finds himself in some of the mocks going in the top 20. — Andrew Lopez, NOLA.com, "Could LSU have 2 first-rounders in the 2019 NFL Draft?," 2 May 2018 And read Bill Belichick talk about the godfather of mocks and of scouting college players for every team as a hobby, the late Joel Buchsbaum. — Peter King, SI.com, "Monday Morning Mock Draft: Darts, Deals & Wild Guesses," 23 Apr. 2018 Draft season also means the return of mock drafts, and the breakdown of these mocks. — Jourdan Rodrigue, charlotteobserver, "Mock Talk: Analysts’ Panthers draft projections are out. Why can’t these guys agree?," 14 Feb. 2018 Like Brunson, he is considered a late first-round pick in some mocks, an early second-round choice in others. — Joe Juliano, Philly.com, "Four Villanova players will be taken in the NBA draft. Will they all be in the first round?," 19 June 2018 Since the 512 actual rooms and suites are still under construction, Traveler got a preview of a full-scale mock up, including a full hallway and king room, built in one of JFK’s cargo warehouses. — Meredith Carey, Condé Nast Traveler, "Inside the Game-Changing New TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport," 17 Apr. 2018 In this mock, the Saints work out a deal with the New England Patriots for the first of their two second-round picks. — NOLA.com, "New Orleans Saints Mock Draft 4.0: Trade bolsters pass rush," 9 Apr. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The approaching first round means NFL mock draft season is almost over. — Michael Casagrande, AL.com, "20 NFL mock drafts offer composite for Alabama players," 24 Apr. 2018 Then, there was the news that left tackle Trey Adams — who various mock drafts had going in the top 10 — will miss most of the season with a back injury. — Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times, "Despite taking a stinging one-two punch, Huskies’ hopes haven’t hit the canvas," 3 Sep. 2018 In several recent years Judge Kavanaugh has joined with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and other Democratic appointees for mock trials staged by Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company. — Brent Kendall, WSJ, "Kavanaugh’s Collegial Nature Could Change Supreme Court’s Tenor," 15 July 2018 To give students the experience of practicing before a judge and jury, the architects at Tackett & Co. fitted out the former bank with five authentic courtrooms where professors can stage mock trials. — Inga Saffron, Philly.com, "How a Philadelphia lawyer turned a historic bank into a shrine to democracy (and his legal career)," 3 June 2018 Coppernose’s affluent young adventurers must attend a mock trial following their wild and destructive behavior, where wooden-headed automaton magistrates side with the defendants rather than the robot police attempting to prosecute them. — Lynda Clark, Smithsonian, "How Charles Dickens Imagined a Westworld-like Robot Theme Park Back In 1838," 21 Apr. 2018 Micheal is a senior at Mirabeau B. Lamar High School and participates in his school’s debate team, mock trial and student government. — Angela Helm, The Root, "17-Year-Old Houston Teen Gets Into 20 Top-Tier Colleges With Full Rides," 31 Mar. 2018 Currently a senior at Mirabeau B. Lamar High School, Michael has been heavily involved in his school's debate team, mock trial and student government for years. — Isabella Gomez And Christina Zdanowicz, CNN, "He applied to 20 of the best colleges and got a full ride to all of them," 30 Mar. 2018 According to the study, more than 90 percent of Florida civics teachers discuss current events in the classroom, two-thirds of them doing so weekly, and a majority of them use teaching simulations such as debates or mock trials. — Story Hinckley, The Christian Science Monitor, "Teens take the national stage, armed with ... civics lessons?," 23 Mar. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

The artists Kenya (Robinson) and Doreen Garner are sitting mock-regally on a divan in a moody Gramercy cocktail bar. — Adam Davidson, The New Yorker, "The Podcast as Performance Art," 28 Jan. 2017

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

First Known Use of mock

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1548, in the meaning defined above

Adverb

circa 1625, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for mock

Verb

Middle English, from moker

Noun

see mock entry 1

Adjective

see mock entry 1

Adverb

see mock entry 1

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Dictionary Entries near mock

Statistics for mock

Last Updated

9 Dec 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for mock

The first known use of mock was in the 15th century

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More Definitions for mock

mock

verb

English Language Learners Definition of mock

(Entry 1 of 3)

: to laugh at or make fun of (someone or something) especially by copying an action or a way of behaving or speaking

: to criticize and laugh at (someone or something) for being bad, worthless, or unimportant

mock

noun

English Language Learners Definition of mock (Entry 2 of 3)

: an exam that does not count and that is done to practice for a real exam : a mock exam

mock

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of mock (Entry 3 of 3)

: not based on real or honest feelings

: done or performed to look like the real thing

See the full definition for mock in the English Language Learners Dictionary

mock

verb

\ˈmäk

mocked; mocking

Kids Definition of mock

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to treat with scorn : ridicule Stanley had also tried to explain that he needed to save his energy … but the other boys just mocked him.— Louis Sachar, Holes