ridicule

ridicule
I UK [ˈrɪdɪˌkjuːl] / US [ˈrɪdɪˌkjul] verb [transitive]
Word forms "ridicule":
present tense I/you/we/they ridicule he/she/it ridicules present participle ridiculing past tense ridiculed past participle ridiculed
to try to make someone or something seem silly by making fun of them in an unkind way

Oliver felt he was being ridiculed by the students.


II UK [ˈrɪdɪˌkjuːl] / US [ˈrɪdɪˌkjul] noun [uncountable]
remarks or behaviour intended to make someone or something seem silly by making fun of them in an unkind way

The idea met with such ridicule that it was dropped.

object of ridicule (= someone or something that people make fun of):

Her old-fashioned ideas risk making her an object of ridicule.

hold someone/something up to ridicule (= make them look silly in public):

The government could be held up to ridicule if the project goes ahead unchanged.


English dictionary. 2014.

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  • ridicule — [ ridikyl ] adj. et n. m. • 1500; lat. ridiculus, de ridere « rire » I ♦ Adj. 1 ♦ De nature à provoquer le rire, à exciter la moquerie, la dérision. ⇒ risible; dérisoire. Par ext. (l idée de rire disparaissant) Très mauvais, d une insignifiance… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • ridicule — 1. (ri di ku l ) adj. 1°   Digne de risée, en parlant des personnes et des choses. •   Je ne m étonne pas que vous ayez ri tout votre soûl, en m écrivant l étrange bruit qui court de moi, que je n ai ni bonté ni amitié ; car, sans mentir, il ne s …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • ridicule — Ridicule. adj. de t. g. Digne de risée, de mocquerie. Que cela est ridicule! il nous dit des choses si ridicules. cet homme là s est rendu ridicule. on l a tourné en ridicule. Il est quelquefois subst. ainsi on dit, C est un ridicule, pour dire,… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ridicule — vb Ridicule, deride, mock, taunt, twit, rally are comparable when they mean to make a person or thing the object of laughter. Ridicule implies deliberate and often malicious belittling of the person or thing ridiculed {the old State religion… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • ridicule — [rid′i kyo͞ol΄] n. [Fr < L ridiculum, a jest, laughable (thing), neut. of ridiculus, laughable, comical < ridere, to laugh < IE * wrizd , to avert the face (> Sans vrīda, embarrassment) < base * wer , to turn] 1. a) the act of… …   English World dictionary

  • 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. [1913 Webster] I ve known the young, who ridiculed his rage. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] Syn …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ridicule — Rid i*cule, a. [F.] Ridiculous. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] This action . . . became so ridicule. Aubrey. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ridicule — [n] contemptuous laughter at someone or something badinage, banter, buffoonery, burlesque, caricature, chaff, comeback, contempt, derision, dig*, disdain, disparagement, farce, foolery, gibe, irony, jab*, jeer, laughter, leer, mockery, mordancy,… …   New thesaurus

  • Ridicule — (fr., spr. Ridikühl), 1) lächerlich; 2) lächerliche Seite; daher sich ein R. geben, sich lächerlich machen …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • ridicule — I noun buffoonery, burlesque, caricature, chaff, contempt, derision, derisiveness, disdain, disparagement, disrespect, game, gibe, jeer, lampoonery, ludicrous representation, mimicry, mockery, pasquinade, raillery, ridiculum, sarcasm, satire,… …   Law dictionary

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