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

Female comics who mock their own looks were (and sadly, still are) more common than those who embrace their own beauty and stylishness. — Marjorie Ingall, Town & Country, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," 4 Dec. 2018 On last night’s opening of Saturday Night Live, Alec Baldwin reprised his role as Donald Trump—wig, pout, and all—in a skit that mocked the president’s meeting with Kanye West in the Oval Office earlier this week. — Christian Allaire, Vogue, "This Is How SNL Handled That Trump and Kanye Oval Office Meeting," 14 Oct. 2018 People like to mock those like Flake who defend the discourse. — Dylan Scott, Vox, "Brett Kavanaugh is Jeff Flake’s most important test," 3 Oct. 2018 The 55-year-old has been in the news a lot in the past few years over his controversial support for Melania Trump (and for mocking those who criticized him) and his comments about gay parents and babies conceived through IVF. — Melissa Minton, Teen Vogue, "Selena Gomez’s Fans Respond to Stefano Gabbana Cyber-Bullying Comment on Instagram," 13 June 2018 The French media were having a ball mocking the puritanical Americans. — Thomas J. Baker, WSJ, "What Barr Knows About Firing an FBI Head," 14 Jan. 2019 For example, Google and GoDaddy yanked The Daily Stormer’s web address after the neo-Nazi website’s founder, Andrew Anglin, published a post mocking the woman killed when a man drove a car into a crowd of counterprotesters in Charlottesville. — Michael Kunzelman, The Seattle Times, "Website used by suspect in synagogue massacre is back online," 7 Nov. 2018 Since Ford came forward she has been attacked by Kavanaugh supporters, including the President's son, Donald Trump Jr., who posted an image mocking Ford on Instagram. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Julia Louis Dreyfus Signs a Letter Supporting Christine Blasey Ford," 18 Sep. 2018 Not a Cell Phone in Sight Jokesters of the internet mocked people who romanticized the days before cellphones and social media with this hilarious trend. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "22 Memes That Made 2018 Less Horrible," 17 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

At the meeting, staffers applauded when CEO Kevin Burns displayed a mock-up of a Juul promotion inserted into a pack of Marlboros—one of the marketing tools the startup now has at its disposal. — Jennifer Maloney, WSJ, "Juul’s Instant Millionaires: How $2 Billion From Altria Is Being Divvied Up," 21 Dec. 2018 The product mock-ups suggest it will be packaged with the Supreme logo spread across the lipstick cap and bullet. — Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, "Is Supreme's Rumored Red Lipstick Launching Soon? Fans on Instagram Think So," 27 Aug. 2018 Here's an early mock of the first round of the 2018 NBA draft: 1. — Jason Jones, sacbee, "Deandre Ayton expected to go to the Phoenix Suns. Who do the Kings draft at No. 2? | The Sacramento Bee," 16 May 2018 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

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

This slight soberness also extends to how the episode treats Gore, whom South Park still sees as a figure to mock, but for a very different reason. — Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "12 years after mocking Al Gore’s fight against climate change, South Park reconsiders," 14 Nov. 2018 This is not written to mock, and not written to doom. — Sam Mellinger, kansascity, "Hang onto your seat, Royals fans. In many ways, this club is in worse shape than it was in 2006 | The Kansas City Star," 18 May 2018 Ben Affleck’s is the kind of middle-aged-white-male sadness that the Internet loves to mock—a mocking that depends on a rejection of this sadness, as well as a hedging identification with it. — Erin Jensen, USA TODAY, "Ben Affleck claps back at 'The New Yorker' for 'garish' back tattoo slight," 29 Mar. 2018 The property features 10 mock-shipwrecks, each appointed with chic, contemporary finishings. — Carrie Goldberg, Harper's BAZAAR, "The 19 Best Places to Travel in 2019," 10 Jan. 2019 The Virgil Abloh–designed Louis Vuitton harness over a mock neck is distinct as hell. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "Let's Speculate About Timothée Chalamet's Golden Globes Outfit," 7 Jan. 2019 Among its abundant charms are the fragments of shtick the pair perform blithely, almost unconsciously, in their offstage lives—Ollie (John C. Reilly), doing his delicate little dance steps, Stan (Steve Coogan) scratching his head in mock perplexity. — Joe Morgenstern, WSJ, "‘Stan & Ollie’ Review: Fat, Lean, Funny and Fine," 3 Jan. 2019 The majority of their exteriors are brick, but they're accented (often in those triangular gables) with decorative half-timbering: essentially a mock frame of thin boards with stucco or stone filling in the spaces between the boards. — Maggie Burch, House Beautiful, "There's A Reason You Don't See Many Tudor-Style Homes These Days," 1 Nov. 2018 The two women were criticized in the press for poking their friend Lulu Blacker in the backside with their umbrellas at Ascot, and by Prince Charles for mock-fighting in the snow during a photo call at Klosters. — Marcia Moody, Town & Country, "Inside Princess Diana's Complicated Friendship with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York," 22 July 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

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Dictionary Entries near mock

Statistics for mock

Last Updated

18 Feb 2019

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)

British : 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

2 : mimic entry 2 sense 2