ridicule
Syllables: rid·i·cule/ˈɹɪdɪkjuːl/
ridicule verb: to criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of.
Verb
ridicule (third-person singular simple present ridicules, present participle ridiculing, simple past and past participle ridiculed)
- To criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of.
- His older sibling constantly ridiculed him with sarcastic remarks.
Noun (1)
ridicule (countable and uncountable, plural ridicules)
- Derision; mocking or humiliating words or behavior.
- Safe from the Bar, the Pulpit, and the Throne, / Yet touch'd and sham'd by Ridicule alone.1738, Alexander Pope, Epilogue to the Satires: Dialogue II
- When he was young you'd not find him doing well in school,
His mind would turn unto the waters.
Always the focus of adolescent ridicule,
He has no time for farmer's daughters.
Alienated from the clique society,
A lonely boy finds peace in fishing.1989, “John the Fisherman”, performed by Primus
- An object of sport or laughter; a laughing stock.
- [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries.1857, Henry Thomas Buckle, History of Civilization in England
- To the people […] but a trifle, to the king but a ridicule.1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC
- The quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness.
- to see the ridicule of this monstrous practice1710 March 31 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, March 21, 1709–1710”, in The Spectator, number 18; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a...
- More keenly alive perhaps than any of her sisters to the little ridicules that belonged to Mrs. Palmer's character, she yet saw how small was their importance, and that Mrs. Palmer was not only a better but a happier person than most of those with whom she was acquainted.1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 65
Adjective
ridicule (comparative more ridicule, superlative most ridicule)
- ridiculous
- late 17th century, John Aubrey, Brief Lives
This action […] became so ridicule.
- late 17th century, John Aubrey, Brief Lives
Noun (2)
ridicule (plural ridicules)
- A small woman's handbag; a reticule.
- […] while paying her own compliments to Mrs. Bates, and appearing to attend to the good old lady’s replies, she saw her with a sort of anxious parade of mystery fold up a letter which she had apparently been reading aloud to Miss Fairfax, and return it into the purple and gold ridicule by her side...1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Emma: […], volume III, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, pages 295–296
- I hastily drew my empty hand from my Ridicule.c. 1825, Frances Burney, Journals and Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 455
ridicule meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Telugu
ridicule in Hindi
- derision
- उपहास uphās, खिल्ली khillī
ridicule in Tamil
- ஏளனம், பரிகாசம், கேலி, ஏளனம் செய், பரிகாசம் செய், கேலி செய்
ridicule in Urdu
- بےعزتی, مضحکہ, بےعزتی کرنا, ہنسی اڑانا, خاکہ اڑانا
ridicule in Telugu
- ridicule, mockery, derision, joking
- గేలి gēli
- ridicule, derision, joking
- వేళాకోళము vēḷākōḷamu
- ridicule, mockery
- నగుబాటు nagubāṭu
More languagesFewer languages
- ridicule in Malayalam
- പരിഹസിക്കുക parihasikkuka, പരിഹാസം parihāsaṁ
- ridicule in Kannada
- ಅಪಹಾಸ್ಯ, ನಗೆಗೇಡಿತನ, ಕುಚೋದ್ಯ, ಅಣಕ
- ridicule in Sanskrit
- निद् nid
- ridicule in Arabic
- تَهَكَّمَ tahakkama, سَخِرَ saḵira
- ridicule in Malay
- memperlekeh
- ridicule in Persian
- مسخره کردن masxare kardan, استهزا estehzâ
- ridicule in Thai
- ล้อ lɔ́ɔ, หยอกล้อ, เหน็บแนม nèp-nɛɛm
- ridicule in Vietnamese
- nhạo báng, giễu cợt, chế nhạo
- ridicule in Myanmar
- သရော် sa.rau
Examples of ridicule in a sentence
- I can't believe I got teased and ridiculed for my musical tastes again. Why me?
- The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.
- Where's your object of ridicule now?
Synonyms of ridicule
Forms of ridicule
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | ridicules |
| present participle | ridiculing |
| past participle | ridiculed |
| past | ridiculed |
| Noun | |
| plural | ridicules |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more ridicule |
| superlative | most ridicule |
Origin of ridicule
The obsolete adjective is borrowed from French ridicule, from Latin rīdiculus (“laughable, comical, amusing, absurd, ridiculous”), from ridere (“to laugh”). The noun is either from French, noun use of adjective, or from Latin rīdiculum, noun use of neuter of rīdiculus. The verb is from the noun or else from French ridiculer, from ridicule.
Apparently from French ridicule (“reticule”), probably a punning alteration of réticule after ridicule (“ridicule”).
Words formed from ridicule
Phrases with ridicule
Questions about ridicule
- What does ridicule mean?
- Ridicule means to criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of.
- What is ridicule in Hindi?
- Ridicule in Hindi is उपहास (uphās), खिल्ली (khillī). See Ridicule meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ridicule?
- Ridicule can be a verb, a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce ridicule?
- Ridicule is pronounced /ˈɹɪdɪkjuːl/.
- What is the past tense of ridicule?
- The past tense of ridicule is ridiculed.
Words near ridicule in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ridicule (page history and authors); ridicule (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ridicule (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); గేలి (Telugu) (page history and authors); ridicule (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ridicule.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ridicule.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ridicule. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.