as in parodies
a creative work that uses sharp humor to point up the foolishness of a person, institution, or human nature in general
a satire about the music industry in which a handsome but untalented youth is turned into a pop star
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Recent Examples of satires
Filmmakers have used the Civil War as a setting for many decades now, inspiring stories of epic military battles, romantic melodramas, and even satires, from sweeping Best Picture winners like Gone With the Wind (1939) to revisionist Westerns like Django Unchained (2012).
—
Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Apr. 2026
The role demands charisma, vocal chops, and sharp comedic timing, all deployed within one of the most cynical satires in the musical theater canon.
—Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2026
More than a hundred years before the French Revolution, his riotous, scathing satires dared to speak truth to some of the most absolute power in the world.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2025
Christopher Guest really took up the mantle of putting real emotional elements in these satires — look at A Mighty Wind.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 16 Dec. 2025
His 1984 metal band mockumentary This is Spinal Tap served as the blueprint for musical documentary satires, getting the sequel treatment earlier this year.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 14 Dec. 2025
An entire section of the Mad exhibit is devoted to movie and television show satires, the majority with art by master caricaturist Mort Drucker.
—Jeff Suess, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Nov. 2025
The name belonged to a London area with printing shops, booksellers and cheap lodgings where impoverished writers churned out pamphlets, satires, political tracts, sensational stories and hack journalism—whatever sold.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 8 Nov. 2025
The show spoofs recent Broadway blockbusters, including celebrity satires and pop culture zings, with hip-hop piano accompaniment.
—Eric E. Harrison, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2025
Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Apr. 2026
The role demands charisma, vocal chops, and sharp comedic timing, all deployed within one of the most cynical satires in the musical theater canon.
—Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2026
More than a hundred years before the French Revolution, his riotous, scathing satires dared to speak truth to some of the most absolute power in the world.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2025
Christopher Guest really took up the mantle of putting real emotional elements in these satires — look at A Mighty Wind.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 16 Dec. 2025
His 1984 metal band mockumentary This is Spinal Tap served as the blueprint for musical documentary satires, getting the sequel treatment earlier this year.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 14 Dec. 2025
An entire section of the Mad exhibit is devoted to movie and television show satires, the majority with art by master caricaturist Mort Drucker.
—Jeff Suess, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Nov. 2025
The name belonged to a London area with printing shops, booksellers and cheap lodgings where impoverished writers churned out pamphlets, satires, political tracts, sensational stories and hack journalism—whatever sold.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 8 Nov. 2025
The show spoofs recent Broadway blockbusters, including celebrity satires and pop culture zings, with hip-hop piano accompaniment.
—Eric E. Harrison, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for satires
Noun
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Broadway, top-heavy with musical parodies and attention-grabbing revivals, is having a strange season by all accounts.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
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While the show featured many of the same characters, its format strayed from the sci-fi space narrative of Spaceballs and instead was a series of parodies, each episode serving as a satirical commentary on several contemporary hits, such as Lord of the Rings, American Idol and Harry Potter.—
Maddie Garfinkle,
PEOPLE,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The success of more straightforward spoofs such as Schaffer’s The Naked Gun last year is also reassuring; that film was a classic joke-a-minute throwback that largely worked (for both viewers and critics), more in line with the sort of fare that the Lonely Island made early on.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
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Retro Rewind players run a Blockbuster Video-like movie-rental store set in the early 1990s, complete with spoofs of real blockbusters of the era.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The director got his feature start with action comedies, famously directing the Charlie’s Angels movies in the early 2000s.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
1 May 2026
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But only 10 of the operas have been comedies.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Satires.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/satires. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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