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Deride is a combination of the prefix de- ("make lower") and ridēre, a Latin verb meaning "to laugh." Ridēre echoes in other English words as well, some common and some obscure. In the former category we have ridicule and ridiculous. Ridicule functions as both verb ("to make fun of") and noun ("the act of making fun of"), while ridiculous describes what arouses or deserves ridicule or mockery. Obscure ridēre words include arride (it has an obsolete meaning of "to smile or laugh at," and also means "to please, gratify, or delight") and irrision, a synonym of derision, the close noun relation of deride. Also in the category of obscure ridēre words is risorius; this medical term refers to a narrow band of facial muscle fibers that reach to the corners of the mouth to make smiling possible.
Synonyms
Examples of deride in a Sentence
Rob Wile, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
McConnell has privately derided Trump, publicly attacked him for his role in fomenting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and has not spoken with Trump for several years.
—Josh Dawsey, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024
The interjection came early in the remarks, as Biden derided Trump over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
—Lawrence Andrea, Journal Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2024
Saltburn reigned supreme as the most polarizing film of the year, with some (including EW) hailing it as a perverse psychosexual thriller and others deriding its outré storytelling.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 4 Mar. 2024
For years, the vision of an Israeli state and a Palestinian state existing side by side in peace and security has been derided as hopelessly naive—or worse, as a dangerous illusion.
—Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
For years, the company was derided for using its bundles of venture capital cash to subsidize the price of a car trip in a city, artificially lowering the cost of a ride to lure in millennial customers who were turned off by clunky, digitally hostile taxis.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 8 Feb. 2024
The application had long been derided as too complicated and too labor-intensive for families, asking for detailed tax information.
—Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
While Black hair is being celebrated now more than ever—on magazine covers, runways, and red carpets—it’s also still being derided.
—Leah Faye Cooper, Vogue, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deride.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Deride.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deride. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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