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

2

: 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

3

a

: a counterfeit appearance : imitation

… if it was not a man it was a huge and grotesque mockery of man.

—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

Synonyms of mockery

• parody
• joke
• caricature
• sham

Examples of mockery in a Sentence

His kind of personality invites mockery.

the children's cruel mockery of each other

Recent Examples on the Web

If these Knicks show up — the same Knicks who’ve made a mockery of the Hawks over the last two games — the series could be an encore performance from last season. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 29 Apr. 2026

But mockery and mischief, not politics, were the point. —Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 26 Apr. 2026

Trump has famously been the target of mockery in the past (in 2011 when President Barack Obama did the honors) and has angrily defended his staff, such as then Press Secretary Sarah Sanders when she was singled out by Michelle Wolf in 2018. —Rob Crilly, The Washington Examiner, 24 Apr. 2026

Yet not only is this country still standing, but more and more people are waking up to the mockery he’s made of American values. —Gustavo Arellano, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing mockery

• self-mockery

Rhymes for mockery

• crockery
• rockery

Kids 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