n.
Words or actions intended to evoke contemptuous laughter at or feelings toward a person or thing: "I know that ridicule may be a shield, but it is not a weapon" (Dorothy Parker).
tr.v., -culed, -cul·ing, -cules.
To expose to ridicule; make fun of.
[French, from Latin rīdiculum, joke, from neuter of rīdiculus, laughable. See ridiculous.]
ridiculer rid'i·cul'er n.SYNONYMS ridicule, mock, taunt, twit, deride. These verbs refer to making another the butt of amusement or mirth. Ridicule implies purposeful disparagement: "My father discouraged me by ridiculing my performances" (Benjamin Franklin). To mock is to poke fun at someone, often by mimicking and caricaturing speech or actions: "Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort/As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit" (Shakespeare). Taunt suggests mocking, insulting, or scornful reproach: "taunting him with want of courage to leap into the great pit" (Daniel Defoe). To twit is to taunt by calling attention to something embarrassing: "The schoolmaster was twitted about the lady who threw him over" (J.M. Barrie). Deride implies scorn and contempt: "Was all the world in a conspiracy to deride his failure?" (Edith Wharton).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
