as in satiric
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
a mordant review of the movie that compared it to having one's teeth pulled for two hours
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Recent Examples of mordant
While still maintaining his academic career, Lehrer was popular enough to tour occasionally as a solo performer before overseas audiences, punctuating his mordant material with a lupine grin.
—
Chris Morris, Variety, 27 July 2025
A bit of mordant familial humor held that the Great Depression had hit the year before, and the family had been demoted, but the new categorization was more likely the product of the family’s changing structure.
—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
The brilliantly mordant Irish comedian Dylan Moran summed it up memorably.
—Greg Orme, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
The Pornographer is a riposte to the banning of The Dark, a very mordant kind of revenge.
—Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mordant
Chris Morris, Variety, 27 July 2025
A bit of mordant familial humor held that the Great Depression had hit the year before, and the family had been demoted, but the new categorization was more likely the product of the family’s changing structure.
—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
The brilliantly mordant Irish comedian Dylan Moran summed it up memorably.
—Greg Orme, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
The Pornographer is a riposte to the banning of The Dark, a very mordant kind of revenge.
—Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mordant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mordant
Adjective
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Mugs and satirical commemorative plates are some of the items that can be seen on display in a local gift shop.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
16 Sep. 2025
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The 2025 South Korean satirical black comedy thriller is co-written, produced and directed by Park Chan-wook (Decision To Leave, Old Boy, The Handmaiden).—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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His witty, sarcastic, and often controversial commentary is the soundtrack to a generation of wrestling fans.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
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She’s matched wonderfully by Cooke, who leans into her actual Manchester accent to give Cherry a stroppy, sarcastic bent and whose body looks absolutely banging wrapped in an array of oxblood, maroon, and cerise minidresses.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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This touchscreen pod machine has a lot to offer, including rich, balanced, coffee; a whopping eight brewing sizes; one-touch presets for low-acid, Americano, iced coffee, and cold brew; plus customizable temperature control and brew strength.—
Mark Marino,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
29 Aug. 2025
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How does the new silver extraction method work The technology, known as Jet Electrochemical Silver Extraction (JESE), uses a fine stream of weak acid to dissolve silver directly from the panel surface in seconds—the acid stream targets only the silver, leaving everything else untouched.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Rainwater reacts with carbon dioxide in the air and becomes slightly acidic, wearing away at rock exposed on the Earth’s surface.—
Peter Brannen,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
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Producing such minerals in a lifeless place would probably require acidic conditions or high temperatures—and the area showed signs of neither.—
David W. Brown,
New Yorker,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Only those working at the listening station (kept separate from the rest of the compound with barbed wire and a guard shack) knew what was really going on.—
A.K. Whitney,
Oc Register,
9 Sep. 2025
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Thailand says the barbed wire was set up to prevent the planting of mines and is on its own land.—
Matthew Tostevin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The Sweet Dove Died is more caustic than anything else Pym wrote.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Sep. 2025
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Likely less caustic is Bryan Washington’s Palaver, his third novel, about a gay man living in Japan whose mother appears in his life after a period of estrangement.—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mordant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mordant. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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