ridicule
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Borrowed from French ridicule, from Latin rīdiculus (“laughable, comical, amusing, absurd, ridiculous”), from ridere (“to laugh”).
VerbEdit
ridicule (third-person singular simple present ridicules, present participle ridiculing, simple past and past participle ridiculed)
- (transitive) to criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of
- His older sibling constantly ridiculed him with sarcastic remarks.
SynonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to make fun of someone
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NounEdit
ridicule (countable and uncountable, plural ridicules)
- derision; mocking or humiliating words or behaviour
- 1738, Alexander Pope, Epilogue to the Satires: Dialogue II
- 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
- An object of sport or laughter; a laughing stock.
- 1857, Henry Thomas Buckle, History of Civilization in England
- [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries.
- 1563 March 30, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], OCLC 64451939:
- To the people […] but a trifle, to the king but a ridicule.
- 1857, Henry Thomas Buckle, History of Civilization in England
- The quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness.
- 1710 April 1 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison; Richard Steele, “TUESDAY, March 21, 1709–1710”, in The Spectator, number 18; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, OCLC 191120697:
- to see the ridicule of this monstrous practice
- 1842, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Lady Anne Granard, volume 1, page 65:
- 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.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:ridicule
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
derision
object of laughter — see laughing stock
quality of being ridiculous — see ridiculousness
See alsoEdit
AdjectiveEdit
ridicule (comparative more ridicule, superlative most ridicule)
- (obsolete) ridiculous
- late 17th century, John Aubrey, Brief Lives
- This action […] became so ridicule.
- late 17th century, John Aubrey, Brief Lives
Etymology 2Edit
From French ridicule, probably jocular alteration of réticule.
NounEdit
ridicule (plural ridicules)
- (now historical) A small woman's handbag; a reticule. [from 18th c.]
- c. 1825, Frances Burney, Journals and Letters, Penguin 2001, p. 455:
- I hastily drew my empty hand from my Ridicule.
- 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], OCLC 558204586:
- ‘Pockets, women's ridicules, houses, mailcoaches […] ,’ said Mr. Claypole.
- c. 1825, Frances Burney, Journals and Letters, Penguin 2001, p. 455:
Further readingEdit
- “ridicule” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- “ridicule” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin rīdiculus.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
ridicule (plural ridicules)
- ridiculous (all meanings)
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “ridicule”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
LatinEdit
EtymologyEdit
From rīdiculus (“laughable; ridiculous”), from rīdeō (“to laugh; mock”).
AdverbEdit
rīdiculē (comparative rīdiculius, superlative rīdiculissimē)
SynonymsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “ridicule”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- “ridicule”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- ridicule in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette