01 n. An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter.
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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.
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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 ridicule alone.” — Pope.
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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.