mock

verb \ ˈmäk , ˈmȯk \

|Updated on: 20 Aug 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: mock in a Sentence

Definition of mock

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

4 a : 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

—

mocker

noun

—

mockingly

play \ˈmä-kiŋ-lē, ˈmȯ-\ adverb

See mock defined for English-language learners

See mock defined for kids

Examples of mock in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of mock from the Web

Holocaust denial is state policy, supported by cartoon competitions mocking the Nazi genocide.

— eliora katz, WSJ, "Iranians Are Now Chanting ‘Death to Palestine’," 13 July 2018
Cavell’s sentences were alive with allusions in hectic smart-alecky self-mocking prose that seem closer in spirit to a Marx Brothers movie than a philosophic tome.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Stanley Cavell was a philosopher with style.," 20 June 2018
Hicks got angry and began taunting and mocking his mother, the report said.

— crystal hill, miamiherald, "Mom and son got into an argument. She used her gun to get the ‘last word,’ Florida deputies say," 19 June 2018
The widely mocked Cristiano Ronaldo statue at the Madeira Airport got a bit of a makeover, just in time to celebrate his hat trick in Portugal’s opening game of the World Cup.

— nina mandell, For The Win, "Unfortunate Ronaldo bust gets an update and everyone's still unhappy," 18 June 2018
Picasso parried by mocking the apparent repetitiveness of the gaunt figures that had become the exclusive focus of Giacometti’s sculpture during his war years in Switzerland—a bum rap, as this show proves.

— peter schjeldahl, The New Yorker, "Giacometti’s Skinny Sublimity," 6 June 2018
The original story also said that Haspel had mocked Zubaydah to other personnel at the torture chamber.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "The Correction Matters. The Reporting Matters, Too.," 16 Mar. 2018
Several took to social media to mock and criticize the campaign for fetishizing the plights of the show's oppressed characters.

— christi carras, chicagotribune.com, "'Handmaid's Tale' line of wines canceled amid backlash," 11 July 2018
The male equivalent, deployed by a roués’ gallery that includes the former congressman Anthony Weiner, Kanye West and several famous athletes, has become so common as to be mocked virally on Snapchat.

— laren stover, New York Times, "The Selfie That Dares to Go There," 7 July 2018

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.

Origin and Etymology of mock

Middle English, from moker

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

mock Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of mock

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

mock

noun

Definition of mock

1 : an act of ridicule or derision : jeer

2 : one that is an object of derision or scorn

3 : mockery

4 a : an act of imitation

b : something made as an imitation

See mock defined for English-language learners

Examples of mock in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of mock from the Web

Outside La Carreta restaurant in Hialeah, some of the customers finished off their Saturday morning breakfasts by signing petitions at a table where a mock wanted poster for Raúl Castro had been set up.

— mimi whitefield, miamiherald, "Campaign intensifies to indict Raúl Castro for deadly 1996 shoot-down of exile planes," 27 June 2018
The pick: Bagley Zach Buckley also had the Kings drafting Ayton in a previous mock.

— noel harris, sacbee, "Kings mock drafts: A new favorite has emerged with the No. 1 pick all but certain," 7 June 2018
Reflecting on a decade of Jason Jones' mocks, and how the Kings compared Sacramento media survey: Pick or pass on these prospects for Kings?

— jon schultz, sacbee, "A procrastinator's guide to the Sacramento Kings’ 2018 NBA draft," 21 June 2018
The company has showcased the idea in a 3D mock-up video, gathering interest from potential customers in Asia, Ricci said, without naming any company.

— marie mawad and ania nussbaum, chicagotribune.com, "Flying trains could be coming your way," 11 July 2018
This would complete a meteoric rise up the Draft board for Huerter, who was nowhere to be found on most mocks anywhere near the first round before Chicago.

— katherine fominykh, baltimoresun.com, "NBA mock draft roundup: When Maryland's Kevin Huerter and Justin Jackson might go Thursday," 20 June 2018
Officials said the mock-up will be roughly two-thirds the size of the actual train cars.

— steve annear, BostonGlobe.com, "All aboard! MBTA riders will get to tour a mock-up of the new Red Line trains," 11 June 2018
Correction: June 10, 2018 An earlier version of this article misstated the material of the Axiom space station's mock-up cabin.

— sheila marikar, New York Times, "The Rich Are Planning to Leave This Wretched Planet," 9 June 2018
The videos includes the top 10-13 players in a recent mock draft by cleveland.com's Dan Labbe.

— david petkiewicz, cleveland.com, "Play 'Draft Roulette' to make the pick in the 2018 NFL Draft for the Browns (video)," 26 Apr. 2018

Origin and Etymology of mock

see ¹mock

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

mock Synonyms

Synonyms

carbon, carbon copy, clone, copy, dummy, dupe, duplicate, duplication, facsimile, imitation, reduplication, replica, replication, reproduction;

Antonyms

archetype, original, prototype;

miniature, mock-up, simulation;

reconstruction, re-creation;

image, likeness, semblance, shadow;

impression, imprint, print;

approximation, reincarnation, version;

extra, reserve, spare;

mock

adjective

Definition of mock

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

the mock solemnity of the parody

See mock defined for English-language learners

Examples of mock in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of mock from the Web

Though Jontay Porter is the No. 11 overall pick in ESPN’s 2019 NBA mock draft, he is projected as the third SEC player to be selected, behind Arkansas rising sophomore center Daniel Gafford (No. 10) and Vanderbilt freshman Darius Garland.

— aaron reiss, kansascity, "Mizzou's Porter will help make SEC basketball even more competitive than last season," 28 June 2018
Most mock drafts had Shamet getting selected in the second round, if at all.

— sarah todd, Philly.com, "Sixers' draft pick Landry Shamet and his mother have worked hard, and it paid off," 26 June 2018
Here’s where the Maryland big men have landed across several 2019 mock drafts: Smith: No.

— katherine fominykh, baltimoresun.com, "An early look at next year's Terps potentially headed to the 2019 NBA draft," 23 June 2018
Zadina was projected to go third to Montreal in our mock draft.

— helene st. james, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Red Wings steal Filip Zadina with sixth pick in 2018 NHL draft," 22 June 2018
Evans had been projected as a late first-rounder or early second-round pick in various mock drafts.

— tom groeschen, Cincinnati.com, "UC Bearcats coach Mick Cronin on Jacob Evans landing with NBA champion Warriors: 'How cool is that?'," 22 June 2018
He was left off most mock drafts and faced the possibility of going undrafted.

— shandel richardson, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Miami Hurricanes basketball coach Jim Larranaga feels NBA draft success could boost recruiting," 22 June 2018
Alkins was universally projected as a second-round pick while Trier had slipped out of the mock drafts after being projected in the first round earlier in his career.

— bruce pascoe, azcentral, "Arizona's Rawle Alkins, Allonzo Trier go undrafted but agree to deals," 22 June 2018
Demonstrators also displayed large mock-ups of passports from countries affected by the ban.

— Fox News, "The Latest: Travel ban opponents protest at Supreme Court," 25 Apr. 2018

Origin and Etymology of mock

see ¹mock

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1548

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

mock Synonyms

Synonyms

affected, artificial, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, strained, unnatural;

Antonyms

artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced;

Near Antonyms

authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true;

honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending;

easy, effortless, smooth;

extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied;

double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous;

exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical (also theatric);

cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering;

conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden;

artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied;

mock

adverb

Definition of mock

: in an insincere or counterfeit manner —usually used in combination

mock-serious

Recent Examples of mock from the Web

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

Origin and Etymology of mock

see ¹mock

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1625

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

MOCK Defined for English Language Learners

mock

verb

Definition of mock for English Language Learners

: 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

Definition of mock for English Language Learners

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

mock

adjective

Definition of mock for English Language Learners

: not based on real or honest feelings
: done or performed to look like the real thing

MOCK Defined for Kids

mock

verb \ ˈmäk \

Definition of mock for Students

mocked; mocking

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

2 : ²mimic 2

mock

adjective

Definition of mock for Students

: not real : make-believe

a mock battle

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mock

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mock

Definition of mock

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mock

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MOCK Defined for English Language Learners

mock

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mock

Definition of mock for English Language Learners

mock

Definition of mock for English Language Learners

MOCK Defined for Kids

mock

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mock

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