5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Ridicule  \Rid"i*cule\,  v.  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}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Ridicule  \Rid"i*cule\,  a.  [F.] 
  Ridiculous.  [Obs.] 
 
  This  action  .  .  .  became  so  ridicule.  --Aubrey. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Ridicule  \Rid"i*cule\,  n.  [F.  ridicule,  L.  ridiculum  a  jest,  fr 
  ridiculus.  See  {Ridiculous}.] 
  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  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. 
 
  Usage:  {Ridicule},  {Derision},  Both  words  imply 
  disapprobation;  but  ridicule  usually  signifies 
  good-natured,  fun-loving  opposition  without  manifest 
  malice,  while  derision  is  commonly  bitter  and 
  scornful,  and  sometimes  malignant. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  ridicule 
  n  :  exposing  someone  to  laughter  [syn:  {derision}] 
  v  :  subject  to  laughter  or  ridicule:  "The  satirists  ridiculed 
  the  plans  for  a  new  opera  house";  "The  students  poked  fun 
  at  the  inexperienced  teacher"  [syn:  {guy},  {blackguard}, 
  {laugh  at},  {jest  at},  {rib},  {make  fun},  {poke  fun}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  RIDICULE,  n.  Words  designed  to  show  that  the  person  of  whom  they  are 
  uttered  is  devoid  of  the  dignity  of  character  distinguishing  him  who 
  utters  them  It  may  be  graphic,  mimetic  or  merely  rident. 
  Shaftesbury  is  quoted  as  having  pronounced  it  the  test  of  truth  --  a 
  ridiculous  assertion,  for  many  a  solemn  fallacy  has  undergone 
  centuries  of  ridicule  with  no  abatement  of  its  popular  acceptance. 
  What  for  example,  has  been  more  valorously  derided  than  the  doctrine 
  of  Infant  Respectability? 
 
 

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