Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act of using words, gestures, images, or other products of expression to evoke laughter or contemptuous feelings regarding a person or thing.
- noun The words or other products of expression used in this way.
- transitive verb To expose to ridicule; make fun of.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Ridiculous.
- noun A corruption of reticule, formerly common.
- noun Mocking or jesting words intended to excite laughter, with more or less contempt, at the expense of the person or thing of whom they are spoken or written; also, action or gesture designed to produce the same effect.
- noun An object of mockery or contemptuous jesting.
- noun Ridiculousness.
- noun Synonyms Derision, mockery, gibe, jeer, sneer. See
satire , ludicrous, and banter, verb - To treat with ridicule; treat with contemptuous merriment; represent as deserving of contemptuous mirth; mock; make sport or game of; deride.
- Synonyms Deride, Mock, etc. (see
taunt ), jeer at, scoff at, scout; rally, make fun of, lampoon. See the noun. - To bring ridicule upon a person or thing; make some one or something ridiculous; cause contemptuous laughter.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule toward or respecting.
- adjective obsolete Ridiculous.
- noun An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter.
- noun 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 . - noun obsolete Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive to
criticize ordisapprove of someone or something throughscornful jocularity ; tomake fun of - noun
derision ;mocking orhumiliating words or behaviour - adjective obsolete
ridiculous
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate
- noun the act of deriding or treating with contempt
- verb subject to laughter or ridicule
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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And all the ridicule is a stick for human spaceflight opponents to bash NASA over the head with.
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Angered by this, Mr Rushdie then decided to turn to what he described as "ridicule by the Twitterverse" about the row.
BBC News - Home 2011
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I've consistently maintained Roethlisberger has averted consistent public attention and ridicule from the mainstream media because of his race and the current media structure.
Dexter Rogers: Ben Roethlisberger Sits, Not Named Captain: Will He Get His Job Back? Dexter Rogers 2010
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Audi seemed to be trying to make fun of Green Correctness and in the public arena ridicule is nearly always more effective than criticism.
Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » Support The Intrusive State. Buy an Audi 2010
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The kids in cases like the one being discussed here are of course much older and more cynical than we juniors were, but as Ricardo points out, they are also at a stage where peer ridicule is more potent than at any other time in their lives.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Could Students Be Suspended for “Beat the Jew” Game 2010
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To ignor the questions and concerns and resort to making fun of and ridicule is question for even more concern over the tactics of the current administration.
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The morons who elected Sanford (and anyone else connected with C-Street) deserve all that they get by way of ridicule from the rest of the civilized world.
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He played by the rules, was the subject of jokes and ridicule from the Clinton camp, had to endure Bill Clinton's rants day after day.
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Rudy Giuliani ran similarly early in Iowa, to much ridicule from the press.
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Okay, for one, ridicule is the consequence when after years of outrageous claims, the UFO community has produced no hard evidence.
Archive 2008-09-17 Nicole 2008
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