ridicule

CEFRC2

/ˈɹɪdɪkjuːl/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Unkind laughter or comments that make someone seem foolish.

  2. 02

    verb

    To make someone or something seem foolish by mocking them.

Examples

  • If you do that, you're going to subject yourself to ridicule.

  • It is not good to ridicule him in public.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An object of sport or laughter; a laughing stock.

  2. Derision; mocking or humiliating words or behavior.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of.

More examples

In context

  • His older sibling constantly ridiculed him with sarcastic remarks.

  • late 17th century, John Aubrey, Brief Lives This action […] became so ridicule.

  • Safe from the Bar, the Pulpit, and the Throne, / Yet touch'd and sham'd by Ridicule alone.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The new student faced constant blank from his classmates for his accent.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.