Katagelasticism

//ˌkætəd͡ʒəˈlæstɪsɪzm̩// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Obtaining pleasure from laughing at or mocking others. uncountable

    "For quotations using this term, see Citations:katagelasticism."

Synonyms

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ridiculescoff

Example

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"For quotations using this term, see Citations:katagelasticism."

Etymology

Coined by Willibald Ruch and René T. Proyer, assisted by Christian F. Hempelmann and Sean Harrigan, from Ancient Greek καταγελαστής (katagelastḗs, “mocker”), from καταγελάω (katageláō, “to laugh at, jeer at, laugh down”), from κατά (katá, “downwards”) + γελάω (geláō, “to laugh”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.