as in sardonic
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as in ridiculing
Related Words
1
as in parodying
to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of
team members good-naturedly mocked the coach's familiar bellow
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in taunting
to make (someone or something) the object of unkind laughter
the fashion gurus loved to mock the famous couple for their unsophisticated clothes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in disobeying
to go against the commands, prohibitions, or rules of
a person willing to mock the religious prohibition against working on the Sabbath
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mocking
Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2025
Ben Church, CNN Money, 20 Apr. 2026
Afroman celebrated his legal victory in a video on Wednesday after winning a defamation lawsuit filed by several Ohio sheriff's deputies who accused the rapper of mocking and allegedly lying about them in music videos, following a 2022 raid on his home.
—Angeline Jane Bernabe, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2026
Mutch was likely made aware of Chandler’s mocking verses, as some of Chandler’s biographers suggest.
—Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
The decision received some mocking on social media.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 8 Mar. 2026
Strip Law is a show that prefers to keep everything very close to the surface, including its case-of-the-week mocking of how surface-level Las Vegas is — even if roughly half those cases don’t have much to do with Vegas at all.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Feb. 2026
In his verse, Bad Bunny directly addresses the chats, calling attention to Rosselló’s mocking of the dead from Hurricane María and his rampant homophobia.
—Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2026
With a mocking appreciation for her overbearing family and caustic wit for her younger self, Yajia warmly works from the thesis that kids are extraordinarily weird, scary, and kind-of-dumb creatures who really don’t know any better.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
The cast, for their part, have not let up on their mocking of him.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 6 Oct. 2025
ABC News, 20 June 2026
Reese and the Dream played Indiana on Thursday as well, where Reese was caught mocking Clark by flailing around during the stoppage in play.
—Jon Root Outkick, FOXNews.com, 20 June 2026
Statistician Andrew Gelman published one of Dialog’s invitations to his blog in 2022 in a largely mocking post.
—Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026
White children often followed him to the woods, mocking him and throwing dirt in his face.
—Leila Tarakji, The Conversation, 17 June 2026
During the traffic stop, according to the lawsuit, officers pointed firearms at Cartee and handcuffed him behind his back before pulling him backward by the arms into the patrol vehicle and mocking him for being in pain.
—Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 16 June 2026
Students occupied the building and hung banners with mocking quotations from Horkheimer.
—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
The democracy-mocking GOP disgracefully re-throned the infamous pretend-sident just in time to be the guest of horror at America’s semiquincentennial.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026
Trump has become obsessed with seeking vengeance against his political foes and has abandoned his promise to bring prices down, even mocking the nation’s affordability crisis.
—Jonathan Lemire, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026
Adjective
To get a sense of his whole deal, look no further than the half-mocking, half-earnest title of his latest album, Country!
—Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2025
Noun
Arteta and his Arsenal squad have, of course, downplayed the noise around the club this season, arguing that the widespread mocking doesn’t impact the inner sanctum of the team.
—Ben Church, CNN Money, 20 Apr. 2026
Afroman celebrated his legal victory in a video on Wednesday after winning a defamation lawsuit filed by several Ohio sheriff's deputies who accused the rapper of mocking and allegedly lying about them in music videos, following a 2022 raid on his home.
—Angeline Jane Bernabe, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2026
Mutch was likely made aware of Chandler’s mocking verses, as some of Chandler’s biographers suggest.
—Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2026
The decision received some mocking on social media.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 8 Mar. 2026
Strip Law is a show that prefers to keep everything very close to the surface, including its case-of-the-week mocking of how surface-level Las Vegas is — even if roughly half those cases don’t have much to do with Vegas at all.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Feb. 2026
In his verse, Bad Bunny directly addresses the chats, calling attention to Rosselló’s mocking of the dead from Hurricane María and his rampant homophobia.
—Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2026
With a mocking appreciation for her overbearing family and caustic wit for her younger self, Yajia warmly works from the thesis that kids are extraordinarily weird, scary, and kind-of-dumb creatures who really don’t know any better.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
The cast, for their part, have not let up on their mocking of him.
—Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
Supporters jokingly call themselves unemployed and chronically online, while videos and memes mocking unemployment, corruption and political dysfunction have attracted millions of views.
—ABC News, 20 June 2026
Reese and the Dream played Indiana on Thursday as well, where Reese was caught mocking Clark by flailing around during the stoppage in play.
—Jon Root Outkick, FOXNews.com, 20 June 2026
Statistician Andrew Gelman published one of Dialog’s invitations to his blog in 2022 in a largely mocking post.
—Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026
White children often followed him to the woods, mocking him and throwing dirt in his face.
—Leila Tarakji, The Conversation, 17 June 2026
During the traffic stop, according to the lawsuit, officers pointed firearms at Cartee and handcuffed him behind his back before pulling him backward by the arms into the patrol vehicle and mocking him for being in pain.
—Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 16 June 2026
Students occupied the building and hung banners with mocking quotations from Horkheimer.
—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
The democracy-mocking GOP disgracefully re-throned the infamous pretend-sident just in time to be the guest of horror at America’s semiquincentennial.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026
Trump has become obsessed with seeking vengeance against his political foes and has abandoned his promise to bring prices down, even mocking the nation’s affordability crisis.
—Jonathan Lemire, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mocking
Adjective
-
John Pankow played Ira, Paul’s sardonic, womanizing cousin.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 June 2026
-
The sardonic trend spoke to what Ukrainian and Russian military analysts say could be a deeper shift in the course of the war, which began in 2022 when Russian forces launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
My heart beats faster just thinking about all of them, no kidding.—
Mike Lupica,
New York Daily News,
13 June 2026
-
Just kidding, massage certificate is the way to go.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
10 May 2026
Verb
-
It's been 13 years since the last Scary Movie hit theaters in 2013, and the newest installment reverts to its roots in parodying a variety of movies and television shows.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
10 June 2026
-
Regardless, everyone approves of Kiana, with Zack good-naturedly parodying her sunglasses and the girls encouraging him to lock it down despite the tumultuous relationships their friend group seems to attract.—
Ile-Ife Okantah,
Vulture,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
Speaking of which, when news broke Friday that much of the team’s equipment had been stolen, there was a nearly instantaneous social media ridiculing of the city.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
15 June 2026
-
The internet absolutely let Clavicular have it, ridiculing the influencer with a barrage of memes.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
Verb
-
Santana-Mateo was booked on charges of breach of peace, engaging police in a pursuit, disobeying the direction of officer, reckless driving, failure to obey a stop sign, failure to drive right, failure to obey a traffic control signal and driving the wrong way on a one way.—
Staff Report,
Hartford Courant,
17 June 2026
-
Icarus disobeying his father Daedalus and flying too close to the sun.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
26 May 2026
Adjective
-
Educators were fired for making insensitive comments about him on their personal social-media accounts; a firefighter in Toledo lost his job for posting a derisive eulogy on Facebook; various airline employees were suspended for disparaging Kirk online.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
29 Apr. 2026
-
But this time, American allies have balked at Trump’s request to send warships to help transport oil through the strait, suggesting there is a limit to how far Europe will go to keep Trump onside in Ukraine and demonstrating the upshot of Trump’s derisive attitude toward alliances.—
Christian Edwards,
CNN Money,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
No fooling, April brings some pretty interesting surprises on Netflix.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
As a 7-year-old, I’d entertain my father’s friends, at their weekly pickup game at a Bronx barn-house gymnasium, by imitating his game face—bottom lip jutting, eyes scowling.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
14 June 2026
-
Carol Channing reduced Shalit to tears of laughter with her tale of a London dinner party with Lady Astor and Sir Benjamin Harrison by imitating the latter.—
Chris Koseluk,
HollywoodReporter,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mocking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mocking. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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