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