What does "ridicule" mean?
Derision; mocking or humiliating words or behavior.
Ridicule
/ˈɹɪdɪkjuːl/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Derision; mocking or humiliating words or behavior.
- Grammar: ridicule is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: derision, mockery, airs, arrogance.
- Useful contrasts: admiration, admire, analyze.
- Usage evidence: If you do that, you're going to subject yourself to ridicule.
How to use "ridicule"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "ridicule" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "ridicule" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "ridicule" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "ridicule" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "derision" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Derision; mocking or humiliating words or behavior. countable, uncountable
"Safe from the Bar, the Pulpit, and the Throne, / Yet touch'd and sham'd by Ridicule alone."
- 2 A small woman's handbag; a reticule. historical, regional
"[…] while paying her own compliments to Mrs. Bates, and appearing to attend to the good old lady’s replies, she saw her with a sort of anxious parade of mystery fold up a letter which she had apparently been reading aloud to Miss Fairfax, and return it into the purple and gold ridicule by her side, […]"
- 3 the act of deriding or treating with contempt wordnet
- 4 An object of sport or laughter; a laughing stock. countable, uncountable
"[Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries."
- 5 language or behavior intended to mock or humiliate wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 The quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. countable, uncountable
"to see the ridicule of this monstrous practice"
Verb
- 1 To criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of. transitive
"His older sibling constantly ridiculed him with sarcastic remarks."
- 2 subject to laughter or ridicule wordnet
Adjective
- 1 ridiculous obsolete
"late 17th century, John Aubrey, Brief Lives This action […] became so ridicule."
Antonyms
Example
"If you do that, you're going to subject yourself to ridicule."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "ridicule"?
Common synonyms include: derision, mockery, airs, arrogance, badinage, banter.
How do you use "ridicule" in a sentence?
If you do that, you're going to subject yourself to ridicule.
How do you pronounce "ridicule"?
Pronounced /ˈɹɪdɪkjuːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
Apparently from French ridicule (“reticule”), probably a punning alteration of réticule after ridicule (“ridicule”).