derision
nounUK /dɪˈɹɪʒən/
Etymology From Old French derision, from Latin dērīsiōnem, accusative of dērīsiō, from dērīdēre ("to mock, to laugh at, to deride").
1
Act of treating with disdain.
- There was just a touch of derision in the Don's voice and Hagen flushed.1969, Mario Puzo, The Godfather:
- One of the darlings of the early vegetarian movement (particularly in its even sadder form, the cutlet), it was on the menu at John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium [sic], and has since become the default Sunday option for vegetarians – and a default source of derision for everyone else.2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian:
2
Something to be derided; a laughing stock.
- Miss Briggs was not formally dismissed, but her place as companion was a sinecure and a derision […]1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 14, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- sport
- Derived terms
- hold in derision
- Related terms
- deride, derider, ridicule, ridiculous, ridiculosity