as in mocking
to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of
parodying a public figure's distinctive mannerisms takes particular talent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of parodying
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
Influencer comedians like Madison Humphrey and Mitsy Sanderson have built large platforms parodying awkward moments.
—Rachel Hale, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
Heidecker — the mind behind projects including The Tim and Eric Show and On Cinema — has been parodying Jones for years.
—Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2026
The cliffhanger of the previous season, which saw Lister impregnated by his female self from an alternate universe, is dismissed with a pre-episode text crawl parodying Star Wars, which irreverently moved way too fast to read.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 Mar. 2026
In response, track athlete Alysia Montaño crafted a video in conjunction with the New York Times, parodying Nike’s sponsor’s ad.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026
These are the exact type of tried-and-true New Yorkers and New York hip-hop heads the Bodega Boys blew up by parodying with their frequently unhinged back-and-forth.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 6 Feb. 2026
After an extended bit featuring host Nikki Glaser parodying Nicole Kidman’s AMC ads, a very loose Snoop Dogg introduced, for some reason, the award for best podcast.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026
The scene came in a fictional segment parodying Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead in which Maggie defends her architectural talents after her daycare teacher punishes her for making beautiful structures from building blocks.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Dec. 2025
Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 7 May 2026
Influencer comedians like Madison Humphrey and Mitsy Sanderson have built large platforms parodying awkward moments.
—Rachel Hale, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
Heidecker — the mind behind projects including The Tim and Eric Show and On Cinema — has been parodying Jones for years.
—Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2026
The cliffhanger of the previous season, which saw Lister impregnated by his female self from an alternate universe, is dismissed with a pre-episode text crawl parodying Star Wars, which irreverently moved way too fast to read.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 Mar. 2026
In response, track athlete Alysia Montaño crafted a video in conjunction with the New York Times, parodying Nike’s sponsor’s ad.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026
These are the exact type of tried-and-true New Yorkers and New York hip-hop heads the Bodega Boys blew up by parodying with their frequently unhinged back-and-forth.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 6 Feb. 2026
After an extended bit featuring host Nikki Glaser parodying Nicole Kidman’s AMC ads, a very loose Snoop Dogg introduced, for some reason, the award for best podcast.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026
The scene came in a fictional segment parodying Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead in which Maggie defends her architectural talents after her daycare teacher punishes her for making beautiful structures from building blocks.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parodying
Verb
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In Sunday’s video, Bovino implied Mullin was not cut out for the job, mocking his family’s plumbing business.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
1 June 2026
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Counter after counter resulted in Laredo Kid mocking Penta from the second rope.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Verb
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In a case of life imitating art, this whodunnit explores the investigation behind her disappearance, strangely resembling one of Christie’s own novels, where everyone in her life becomes a suspect, including her brother, Monty (Trevena).—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
1 June 2026
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Zoe, born seven years later, grew up watching them, imitating them and wanting to be them.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
Verb
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Everybody knows that there’ll be certain parts that are doing okay, but a large part of the society in North Korea is very poor.—
Andrew McNicol,
CNN Money,
7 June 2026
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In coverage at Barron’s, Paul La Monica notes how Fidelity is probably doing this due to pressure from brokers like Robinhood that don’t have the same usual requirements.—
John Werner,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Verb
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Many of the most effective deepfake scams involve spoofing a contact’s number, which makes the call look more legitimate when your phone lights up.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
2 June 2026
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Maritime users were particularly alarmed because the location data feature could counter GPS spoofing and jamming that have been occurring in waters in the Middle East, allowing boats to safely navigate despite electronic signal interference.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
26 May 2026
Verb
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Instead, pluralism, naturally associated with diversity and popular agency, was made into the cultural face of capitalism—it was branded as a false openness mimicking the free market, as a flattening that might cause art and art history to lose the threads of progress and quality.—
Katy Siegel,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Inspired by wetland plants like mangroves, 12-year-old Ella Barth and Esme Tsai’s prototype glass funnel uses layers of coffee filter paper, gravel, sand, ion exchange resin, charcoal and cotton, mimicking a natural filtration process to help rid local tap water of its chalky taste.—
Karen Billing,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Parodying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parodying. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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