satire
Syllables: sat·ireUK/ˈsætaɪə//ˈsætaɪɹ/
satire noun: a literary device of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change or highlighting a shortcoming in the work of another. Imitation, humor, irony, and exaggeration are often used to aid this.
Noun
satire (countable and uncountable, plural satires)
- A literary device of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change or highlighting a shortcoming in the work of another. Imitation, humor, irony, and exaggeration are often used to aid this.
- Satire deflates and debases. It is an art which topples greatness, undermines pretension and punishes pride by revealing the low in the pretendedly high, the filth in the pure, the folly in reason. This belittling trick deploys telescopic lenses which picture the human as lesser and lower, or as a...2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Ch.9, at p.148
- A satirical work.
- a stinging satire of American politics.
- Severity of remark.
- CAESAR. No, by the gods! would that it had been! Vengeance at least is human. No, I say: those severed right hands, and the brave Vercingetorix basely strangled in a vault beneath the Capitol, were (with shuddering satire) a wise severity, a necessary protection to the commonwealth, a duty of...1898, George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra
satire meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
satire in Hindi
- literary technique
- कटूपहास kaṭūphās, उपसाह upsāh, व्यंग vyaṅg
satire in Tamil
- அங்கதம், நையாண்டித் தாக்குதல், கேலிப்படைப்பு, பழிப்பு, வசைச் செய்யுள்
satire in Urdu
- literary technique
- طنز tanz, ہجو hajv
satire in Bengali
- ব্যঙ্গাত্মক রচনা, ব্যঙ্গশৈলী, সমাজ, রাজনীতি, ব্যক্তি
More languagesFewer languages
- satire in Malayalam
- ആക്ഷേപഹാസ്യം, നിന്ദാസ്തുതി, പരിഹാസം, ആക്ഷേപം
- satire in Kannada
- ವಿಡಂಬನೆ, ಕುಚೋದ್ಯ, ಅಪಹಾಸ್ಯ, ಅಣಕ
- satire in Sanskrit
- प्रहसन prahasana
- satire in Nepali
- व्यङ्ग्य, व्यंग्य
- satire in Pashto
- طنز tanz, هجوه háǰwa
- satire in Tagalog
- satira
- satire in Arabic
- هِجَاء hijāʔ, هَجْو hajw
- satire in Malay
- satira
- satire in Persian
- طنز tanz, هجو hajv
- satire in Thai
- การเสียดสี gaan-sìiat-sǐi
- satire in Vietnamese
- châm biếm
- satire in Myanmar
- သရော်စာ sa.rauca
Examples of satire in a sentence
- Satire is often employed in social commentary.
- The play, taken in isolation, seems nonsensical, but it is in fact a surreal satire of recent events.
- Satirical literature can commonly be categorised as Horatian, Juvenalian or Menippean. Horatian satire playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humour.
Forms of satire
| plural | satires |
|---|
Origin of satire
From Middle French satire, from Old French, from Latin satira, from earlier satura, from lanx satura (“full dish”), from feminine of satur. Altered in Latin by influence of Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos, “satyr”), on the mistaken notion that the form is related to the Greek σατυρικὸν δράμα (saturikòn dráma, “satyr drama”).
Words formed from satire
Questions about satire
- What does satire mean?
- Satire means a literary device of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change or highlighting a shortcoming in the work of another. Imitation, humor, irony, and exaggeration are often used to aid this.
- What is satire in Hindi?
- Satire in Hindi is कटूपहास (kaṭūphās), उपसाह (upsāh), व्यंग (vyaṅg). See Satire meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is satire?
- Satire is a noun.
- How do you pronounce satire?
- Satire is pronounced /ˈsætaɪɹ/ (US).
- What is the plural of satire?
- The plural of satire is satires.
Words near satire in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: satire (page history and authors); satire (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); satire (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); satire (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); satire (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); प्रहसन (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); satire (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-satire.ogg.
Cite this entry: “satire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/satire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.