Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Ridicule
1.
An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter.
[Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the
ridicule
of his contemporaries. Buckle.
To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a
ridicule
. Foxe.
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.
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.
Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne,
Yet touched and shamed by
Yet touched and shamed by
ridicule
alone. Pope.
3.
Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness.
[Obs.]
To see the
ridicule
of this practice. Addison.
Syn. – Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony; satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer; ribbing.
–
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. Rid′i-cule
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Ridiculed
;p. pr. & vb. n.
Ridiculing
.] To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule toward or respecting.
I ’ve known the young, who
ridiculed
his rage. Goldsmith.
Syn. – To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize; lampoon. See
Deride
. Rid′i-cule
,Adj.
[F.]
Ridiculous.
[Obs.]
This action . . . became so
ridicule
. Aubrey.
Webster 1828 Edition
Ridicule
RID'ICULE
,Noun.
1.
Contemptuous laughter; laughter with some degree of contempt; derision. It expresses less than scorn. Ridicule is aimed at what is not only laughable, but improper, absurd or despicable. Sacred subjects should never be treated with ridicule. [See Ludicrous.]Ridicule is too rough an entertainment for the polished and refined. It is banished from France, and is losing ground in England.
2.
That species of writing which excites contempt with laughter. It differs from burlesque, which may excite laughter without contempt, or it may provoke derision.Ridicule and derision are not exactly the same, as derision is applied to persons only, and ridicule to persons or things. We deride the man, but ridicule the man or his performances.
RID'ICULE
, v.t.1.
To laugh at with expressions of contempt; to deride.2.
To treat with contemptuous merriment; to expose to contempt or derision by writing.RID'ICULE
,Adj.