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
Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 20 Apr. 2026
In non-CinemaCon news, the looksmaxx influencer managed to unite the internets in mocking his dew-eyed meltdown and interview walk-off over being asked modestly difficult questions about his reputation (instead of being asked, say, which moisturizer is best for post-jaw hammering).
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 17 Apr. 2026
The failure to reach a quick deal was among of a pair of setbacks for Vance in recent days – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also lost his reelection bid after Vance campaigned for him – that had critics mocking the vice president's political touch.
—Zac Anderson, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
When Suzanna, a fledgling psychologist, tells, at Max’s urging, a mocking anecdote about one of her young clients, neither Becky nor the sensitive Andrew get the laugh.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 Apr. 2026
Talkative characters like the froggish Mallow and even Bowser himself are motor-mouthed and sarcastic, nigglingly mocking Mario for his inability to speak in anything other than nods and pantomimes.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2026
Carnival parades in Germany are famed for their floats mocking a wide variety of domestic and global political figures, and Putin has frequently been a target.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026
In addition to defending NATO, Macron and other French politicians on Thursday were also reacting to Trump mocking Macron in his remarks Wednesday.
—Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2026
This festival featured carnivals that included music, costumes, and mocking church rituals.
—Paula Soria, AZCentral.com, 1 Apr. 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
Punk then resorted to mocking Reigns.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 20 Apr. 2026
In non-CinemaCon news, the looksmaxx influencer managed to unite the internets in mocking his dew-eyed meltdown and interview walk-off over being asked modestly difficult questions about his reputation (instead of being asked, say, which moisturizer is best for post-jaw hammering).
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 17 Apr. 2026
The failure to reach a quick deal was among of a pair of setbacks for Vance in recent days – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also lost his reelection bid after Vance campaigned for him – that had critics mocking the vice president's political touch.
—Zac Anderson, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
When Suzanna, a fledgling psychologist, tells, at Max’s urging, a mocking anecdote about one of her young clients, neither Becky nor the sensitive Andrew get the laugh.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 Apr. 2026
Talkative characters like the froggish Mallow and even Bowser himself are motor-mouthed and sarcastic, nigglingly mocking Mario for his inability to speak in anything other than nods and pantomimes.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2026
Carnival parades in Germany are famed for their floats mocking a wide variety of domestic and global political figures, and Putin has frequently been a target.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026
In addition to defending NATO, Macron and other French politicians on Thursday were also reacting to Trump mocking Macron in his remarks Wednesday.
—Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2026
This festival featured carnivals that included music, costumes, and mocking church rituals.
—Paula Soria, AZCentral.com, 1 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mocking
Adjective
-
Stephanie Koenig as Poppy, a sardonic dating app regular who tries her luck with Sasha.—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Then Alcock landed Sirens, Netflix’s sardonic limited series.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Heidecker — the mind behind projects including The Tim and Eric Show and On Cinema — has been parodying Jones for years.—
Rolling Stone,
Rolling Stone,
22 Apr. 2026
-
And of course Burrs, whom Donica plays with titanic, Sweeney-esque feeling and force of baritone, is all the more self-hating and compromised, having made a career parodying himself.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
North Korea also conducted a series of tests last week that state media said involved various new weapons systems, including ballistic missiles armed with cluster-bomb warheads, while its senior officials issued statements ridiculing South Korean hopes for warmer relations.—
Greg Norman-Diamond,
FOXNews.com,
14 Apr. 2026
-
North Korea conducted a series of tests last week that state media said involved various new weapons systems, including ballistic missiles armed with cluster-bomb warheads, while its senior officials issued crude statements ridiculing South Korean hopes for warmer relations.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Your brother had similar pressure put on him by the national team after disobeying instructions and speaking out.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged Nikolas Hart, 25, with six counts, including felony animal cruelty and misdemeanors related to allegations of domestic violence, witness tampering and disobeying a court order.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
The market learned a lesson embodied in the derisive acronym TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out.—
Matt Peterson,
CNBC,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Just kidding, but really, dad-like pairs have been de-throned by low-profile sneakers that have a low sole and slim exterior.—
Kaitlin Clapinski,
InStyle,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Here’s what winning a National Championship taught me about B2B sales 🏆 (kidding…kinda) 1.—
Greg Rosenstein,
NBC news,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Life imitating art By the time Artemis astronauts begin assembling a real foothold at the Moon’s south pole, the blueprint will feel oddly familiar, at least to those sim addicts who have been dreaming of a functional moon colony for decades now.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Both of us remember childhood weekends spent recording our own camcorder sketch shows — Lee imitating Dana Carvey’s Ross Perot and Molly Shannon’s Mary Catherine Gallagher, Jenn pushing the boundaries of absurdism far past the point of actually getting laughs.—
Lee Kelly,
PEOPLE,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The pope ignoring atrocities The papal mission appears to have overlooked a visit to Nigeria.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Apr. 2026
-
The beats lazily play into aughts pastiche, ignoring the 15 years of mutation that have morphed trap into plugg, rage, drill, and SahBabii.—
Stephen Kearse,
Pitchfork,
21 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mocking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mocking. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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