mockery
noun
mock·ery
ˈmä-k(ə-)rē 
ˈmȯ-
plural mockeries
1
: insulting or contemptuous action or speech : derision
… laying himself open to the jeers and mockeries of his rebellious subjects …—
E. A. Freeman
E. A. Freeman2
: a subject of laughter, derision, or sport
… making him turn himself into a merry mockery of all he had once held dear.—Oliver St. John Gogarty
Oliver St. John Gogarty3
a
: a counterfeit appearance : imitation
… if it was not a man it was a huge and grotesque mockery of man.—Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
b
: an insincere, contemptible, or impertinent (see impertinent sense 1a) imitation
makes a mockery of justice
4
: something ridiculously or impudently (see impudent sense 1) unsuitable
… in her bitterness she felt that all rejoicing was mockery.—George Eliot
George EliotExamples of mockery in a Sentence
His kind of personality invites mockery.
the children's cruel mockery of each other
Recent Examples on the Web
And pop culture has rarely allowed its female stars to grow older without mockery.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026
Advertisement The next time a public figure makes a mockery of ballet, rest assured that ballet will bite back.
—Chloe Angyal, Time, 9 Mar. 2026
Paladino said on social media how she's being treated is a mockery of the First Amendment.
—Marcia Kramer, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
More Ghanaians are wearing the colorful traditional outfit with pride in a trend triggered by online mockery.
—ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
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Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026
Advertisement The next time a public figure makes a mockery of ballet, rest assured that ballet will bite back.
—Chloe Angyal, Time, 9 Mar. 2026
Paladino said on social media how she's being treated is a mockery of the First Amendment.
—Marcia Kramer, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
More Ghanaians are wearing the colorful traditional outfit with pride in a trend triggered by online mockery.
—ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mockery
Cite this Entry
“Mockery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mockery. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mockery
noun
mock·ery
ˈmäk-(ə-)rē
ˈmȯk-
plural mockeries
1
: insulting action or speech
2
: someone or something that is laughed at
3
: a ridiculous or poor imitation
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