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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mordant
Separated by interstitial shots of Cluj’s ahistorical new architecture, these long and static confessional scenes are spiked with Jude’s recognizably mordant wit, their dialogue timely enough to distract from the feeling of shooting fish in a barrel.
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David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 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
There’s mordant wit, too, in the fact that this woman’s liberation is wholly enabled by a man’s rash murder.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Oct. 2024
Like much of the Coens’ work, these are tragedies tinged with mordant humor and punctuated by the bleakest twists of fate.
—Sezin Devi Keohler, EW.com, 29 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mordant
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 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
There’s mordant wit, too, in the fact that this woman’s liberation is wholly enabled by a man’s rash murder.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Oct. 2024
Like much of the Coens’ work, these are tragedies tinged with mordant humor and punctuated by the bleakest twists of fate.
—Sezin Devi Keohler, EW.com, 29 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mordant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mordant
Adjective
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The poem is part love quest, part account of Italy’s battles; in places profoundly serious, in places satiric.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
11 June 2025
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Neither damning nor satiric, W. is oddly wistful, almost regretful — rare sentiments in a Stone film.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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This is the kind of sarcastic humor that keeps the mood light throughout the 162-game marathon.—
Zach Pressnell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Aug. 2025
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This perky, self-aware, sarcastic and downright silly show caters to both the more traditional Goodspeed audiences.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
14 July 2025
Adjective
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From lo-fi hip-hop to chamber pop, from acid funk to orchestral rock, the fingerprints remain.—
Philip Martin,
Arkansas Online,
15 June 2025
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The floors are done in chestnut-toned wood, with acid green carpets made from bamboo silk, while the VVIP suite has its own private sitting room.—
Samantha Conti,
Footwear News,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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Full sun, cool temperatures, and slightly acidic, fertile soil helps plants thrive.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
7 Aug. 2025
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They’re housed in an acidic formulation, so as not to disturb the skin’s acid mantle (the outermost layer of the barrier), and deliver unmatched hydration and comfort to skin.—
Deanna Pai,
Vogue,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Blood of My Blood doesn’t shy away from the violence and gore of this war — there is blood and guts and young men dying, there is poison gas and bodies on barbed wire.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
9 Aug. 2025
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Panthers will be stymied by 28,000 feet of barbed wire fencing.—
Elise Bennett,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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At a time when Democrats claims the mantle of defending democracy, there would be nothing more caustic and self-defeating than championing policies that quite literally rig the system.—
Daniel Brennan,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Aug. 2025
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The Senate will begin voting on President Donald Trump’s sweeping bill on tax cuts, Medicaid and border security, after a marathon weekend of caustic debate and political maneuvering, but the result isn’t known for certain.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
1 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mordant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mordant. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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