n. 1
Derision; mocking or humiliating words or behavior.
v. 1
To criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of.
His older sibling constantly ridiculed him with sarcastic remarks.

Related words

Word family: ridiculable ridiculous ridiculosity
Phrases: ridicule pole

Forms

Plural: ridicules → derisions, mockeries, scorns, scoffs…
Past participle: ridiculed
e.g. ridiculed → derided, jeered, guyed, mocked…

Choose the right word

Ridicule, Derision, Chaff or Jeering?

Ridicule makes a person or thing the subject of contemptuous merriment; derision seeks to make the object derided seem utterly despicable--to laugh it to scorn. Chaff is the coarse witticism of the streets, perhaps merry, oftener malicious; jeering is loud, rude ridicule, as of a hostile crowd or mob.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

mockery He got hundreds of anonymous letters in mockery.
scorn Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
derision All Mary has left for Tom is scorn and derision.
scoff It's easy to scoff; it's better to understand.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
ridicule		steady
mockery		rising
scorn		steady
derision		rising
scoff		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: guy¹, rib¹
4 letters: mock¹, quiz¹, jest¹, twit, jibe¹, jeer¹, razz, gibe¹
5 letters: sport¹, rally², scout¹, irony³, roast¹, tease¹, mimic², scorn¹, taunt¹, scoff¹, chaff¹, sneer¹, flout¹, fleer¹
6 letters: insult², satire³, banter², deride²
7 letters: sarcasm³, mocking², mockery³, barrack², jeering², lampoon², pillory³
8 letters: derision³, raillery, outlaugh
9 letters: burlesque²
10 letters: blackguard, persiflage
11 letters: gelotophile
13 letters: disparagement

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (rally² = 2 syllables).