Ridicule

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [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.
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              [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his
              deficiencies made him the ridicule of his
              contemporaries.                       --Buckle.
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              To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a
              ridicule.                             --Foxe.
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     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.
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              Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne,
              Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. --Pope.
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     3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.]
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              To see the ridicule of this practice. --Addison.
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     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]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [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.
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           I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage.
                                                    --Goldsmith.
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     Syn: To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize;
          lampoon. See {Deride}.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ridicule \Rid"i*cule\, a. [F.]
     Ridiculous. [Obs.]
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           This action . . . became so ridicule.    --Aubrey.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  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?