- Ridicule
- 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. 2000.