deride

Definition

To laugh at or mock (someone or something) harshly; to ridicule, to scorn.

Etymology

PIE word *de Learned borrowing from Latin dērīdēre, the present active infinitive of dērīdeō (“to laugh at, make fun of, mock, deride”), from dē- (prefix denoting putting down or subjecting to indignity) + rīdeō (“to laugh; to laugh at, mock, ridicule”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to rotate; to turn”) (referring to turning the mouth to smile) or *wreyd- (“to carve; to scratch”)). cognates * Old French dérider (rare), derire

Example Sentences

• "Cicero beeing Augur, derideth the Auguries, and blames men for letting their actions relie vpon the voyce of a Crovve or a Davve."
• "And the people ſtood beholding ⁊ the rulers alſo with them derided him [Jesus], ſaying, hee ſaued others, let him ſaue himſelfe, if he be Chriſt, yͤ choſen of God."
• "I knovv there be many baſe, impudent, and braſen-faced roagues, […] let them be proued, perjured, ſtigmatized, convict roagues, theeues, traitors, looſe their ears, be vvhipped, branded, carted, pointed at, hiſſed, reviled, and derided, vvith Ballio the baud in Plautus, they reioice at it, […]"

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