Definitions for: Ridicule


[n] the act of deriding or treating with contempt
[n] language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate
[v] subject to laughter or ridicule; "The satirists ridiculed the plans for a new opera house"; "The students poked fun at the inexperienced teacher"



Webster (1913) Definition: Rid"i*cule, n. [F. ridicule, L. ridiculum a jest, fr.
ridiculus. See Ridiculous.]
1. An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a
laughing matter.

[Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his
deficiencies made him the ridicule of his
contemporaries. --Buckle.

To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a
ridicule. --Foxe.

2. Remarks concerning a subject or a person designed to
excite laughter with a degree of contempt; wit of that
species which provokes contemptuous laughter;
disparagement by making a person an object of laughter;
banter; -- a term lighter than derision.

We have in great measure restricted the meaning of
ridicule, which would properly extend over whole
region of the ridiculous, -- the laughable, -- and
we have narrowed it so that in common usage it
mostly corresponds to ``derision'', which does
indeed involve personal and offensive feelings.
--Hare.

Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne, Yet
touched and shamed by ridicule alone. --Pope.

3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.]

To see the ridicule of this practice. --Addison.

Syn: Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony;
satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer.

Usage: Ridicule, Derision, Both words imply
disapprobation; but ridicule usually signifies
good-natured, fun-loving opposition without manifest
malice, while derision is commonly bitter and
scornful, and sometimes malignant.


Rid"i*cule, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ridiculed;p. pr. &
vb. n. Ridiculing.]
To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule
toward or respecting.

I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage.
--Goldsmith.

Syn: To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize;
lampoon. See Deride.


Rid"i*cule, a. [F.]
Ridiculous. [Obs.]

This action . . . became so ridicule. --Aubrey.

Synonyms: blackguard, derision, guy, jest at, laugh at, make fun, poke fun, rib

See Also: bemock, debunk, discourtesy, discourtesy, disrespect, expose, lampoon, mock, offence, offense, offensive activity, satirise, satirize, stultify

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