mocking

[ mok-ing ]

adjective

1. showing ridicule, contempt, or derision:

   Elsewhere along the parade route, small bands of protesters held mocking signs.

noun

1. contemptuous, derisive, and usually imitative speech or action:

   Jake just turned his face away and took the mocking and ridicule his brothers dished out.

Other Words From

• mock·ing·ly adverb
• self-mock·ing adjective
• un·mock·ing adjective
• un·mock·ing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of mocking¹

First recorded in 1400–50; mock ( def ) + -ing ²( def ) for the adjective; mock ( def ) + -ing ¹( def ) for the noun

Example Sentences

When people pull out these examples of inefficiency, mocking the seemingly silly “wastes” of government funding, what they are really showing is their ignorance.

From Slate

Trump spent years mocking Rubio’s height, referring to him as “Little Marco.”

From Los Angeles Times

He suggested that “ugly women… I mean feminists” won’t want to hear this, but that candidates need to win over swing states by “making a farmer feel like he’s got a shot. Burr moved on to Trump, mocking his herky-jerky moves, which he said might have thwarted an assassination attempt, and chiding him for his appearance at a McDonald’s. “That’s the only time I’ve ever seen that guy truly happy,” Burr said.

From Los Angeles Times

But many Ghanaians have been mocking its installation - outside a hospital in the city of Sekondi - seeing it as "self glorification".

From BBC

Since rising to international fame through his performances in The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn, Keoghan has been the subject of online abuse with people mocking his appearance and attacking his relationship with his son.

From BBC

Related Words

• derisive
• sarcastic