satire

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“
"Your satire is always a bit clumsy, dear," she said sweetly.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
  2. noun The branch of literature constituting such works. See Synonyms at caricature.
  3. noun Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity.

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Examples (50)

  • On the eve of Austerlitz and of Jena there might well be little humour for a satire from the French. —  Diderot and the Encyclopaedists (Vol 1 of 2)
  • Now the satire is asserting itself, and the laughs are on us, elitist and populist alike. —  Forbes.com: News
  • A major figure in French satire, cartoonist Maurice Sinet, has been acquitted of spreading anti-Semitism. —  J. Weekly
  • More importantly, you ignore the fact that Greeks also had a third dramatic form, the satyr play (from which we derive the English word "satire"), which was very close to what we mean by modern comedy. —  Conservapedia - Recent changes [en]
  • We publish satire, which is not intended to be taken seriously, and we publish news analysis, which clearly is. —  newmatilda.com - Comments
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

sarcasm ·  ridicule ·  humour ·  raillery ·  criticism ·  epigram ·  mockery ·  scorn ·  invective ·  poetry ·  joke ·  pleasantry
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin satira, probably alteration (influenced by Greek satur, satyr, and saturos, burlesque of a mythical episode) of (lanx) satura, fruit (plate) mixture, from feminine of satur, sated, well-fitted; see sā- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also satyre, satyr; = G. Danish satire = Swedish satir, from Old French satire, satyre, French satire = Spanish sátira = Portuguese satyra, satira = Italian satira, from Latin satira, satura, also, erroneously, satyra, satire (see def.), orig. satura, a medley, as in the phrase per saturam, in the gross, confusedly; a species of poesy, orig. dramatic and later didactic, peculiar to the Romans; a medley: orig., according to the statements of the grammarians, satura lanx, literally a full dish, a dish of various kinds of fruit, or food composed of various ingredients: satura, feminine of satur, full (see saturate); lanx, a dish: see lanx, lance, balance. The spelling satyre, satyr, Latin satyra, was due to confusion with satyr; so satiric was confused with satyric.
 

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/ˈsætaɪr/
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