'Ridicule' definitions:

Definition of 'ridicule'

From: WordNet
noun
Language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate
noun
The act of deriding or treating with contempt [syn: derision, ridicule]
verb
Subject to laughter or ridicule; "The satirists ridiculed the plans for a new opera house"; "The students poked fun at the inexperienced teacher"; "His former students roasted the professor at his 60th birthday" [syn: ridicule, roast, guy, blackguard, laugh at, jest at, rib, make fun, poke fun]

Definition of 'Ridicule'

From: GCIDE
  • Ridicule \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. [1913 Webster]
  • [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries. --Buckle. [1913 Webster]
  • To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a ridicule. --Foxe. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne, Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • To see the ridicule of this practice. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony; satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer; ribbing.
  • Usage: Ridicule, Derision, mockery, ribbing: All four words imply disapprobation; but ridicule and mockery may signify either good-natured opposition without manifest malice, or more maliciously, an attempt to humiliate. Derision is commonly bitter and scornful, and sometimes malignant. ribbing is almost always good-natured and fun-loving. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Ridicule'

From: GCIDE
  • Ridicule \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. [1913 Webster]
  • I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize; lampoon. See Deride. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Ridicule'

From: GCIDE
  • Ridicule \Rid"i*cule\, a. [F.] Ridiculous. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • This action . . . became so ridicule. --Aubrey. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Ridicule'