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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Ridicule \Rid"i*cule\, a. [F.]
Ridiculous. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
This action . . . became so ridicule. --Aubrey.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
ridicule
n 1: language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate
2: the act of deriding or treating with contempt [syn: derision]
v : 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: roast,
guy, blackguard, laugh at, jest at, rib, make
fun, poke fun]
WordNet (r) 2.0
190 Moby Thesaurus words for "ridicule":
airs, arrogance, badinage, banter, barrack, be above,
be contemptuous of, be disrespectful, be merry with,
be overfamiliar with, brashness, brassiness, brazenfacedness,
brazenness, burlesque, care nothing for, caricature, chaff,
cheekiness, clannishness, cliquishness, cockiness, contemn,
contempt, contemptuousness, contumely, crack a joke, crack wise,
dare, denigrate, denigration, deprecate, deprecation, depreciate,
depreciation, deride, deriding, derision, despise, despite,
discommend, discommendation, discourtesy, disdain, disdainfulness,
disesteem, dishonor, disparage, disparagement, dispraise, disprize,
disrespect, disrespectfulness, disvaluation, disvalue, dump on,
exchange, exclusiveness, face of brass, feel contempt for,
feel superior to, fleer at, flippancy, flout, fooling,
fooling around, freshness, fun, get fresh, get smart, gibe,
gibe at, gibing, give-and-take, good-natured banter, grin at, guy,
harmless teasing, hauteur, have a nerve, have the cheek,
have the gall, haze, hold beneath one, hold cheap,
hold in contempt, hold in derision, impertinence, impudence,
insolence, insult, irreverence, jape, jeer, jeer at, jeering, jest,
jibe, jive, joke, josh, joshing, kid, kid around, kidding,
kidding around, lack of respect, lampoon, laugh at, laugh to scorn,
look down upon, lout, make a funny, make bold, make free with,
make fun, make fun of, make game of, make merry with, mimic,
misprize, mock, mockery, mocking, not respect, pan, parody,
persiflage, pillory, play on words, pleasantry, point at,
poke fun at, presume, pun, put down, put one on, quip, quiz, rag,
raillery, rally, rallying, rank low, razz, razzing, rib, ribbing,
ride, roast, rudeness, scintillate, scoff, scoff at, scorn,
scornfulness, scout, send up, set at naught, show disrespect for,
smile at, sneer, sneer at, sneeze at, snicker at, sniff at,
sniffiness, snigger at, snobbishness, snootiness, snort at,
snottiness, sovereign contempt, sparkle, sport, superciliousness,
take a liberty, take liberties, take liberties with, taunt,
taunting, tease, think nothing of, toploftiness, travesty,
treat with disrespect, trifle with, twit, utter a mot, wisecrack
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
RIDICULE, n. Words designed to show that the person of whom they are
uttered is devoid of the dignity of character distinguishing him who
utters them. It may be graphic, mimetic or merely rident.
Shaftesbury is quoted as having pronounced it the test of truth -- a
ridiculous assertion, for many a solemn fallacy has undergone
centuries of ridicule with no abatement of its popular acceptance.
What, for example, has been more valorously derided than the doctrine
of Infant Respectability?
THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)
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