Insolence; a scornful insult
Insult; contempt.

ETYM Latin derisio: cf. French dérision. Related to Deride.
Exposing someone to laughter; SYN. ridicule.

ETYM Old Eng. desdain, disdein, Old Fren. desdein, desdaing, French dédain, from the verb. Related to Disdain.
A feeling of contempt and aversion; the regarding anything as unworthy of or beneath one; scorn.

ETYM Latin ironia, Greek, dissimulation, from eiron dissemblera dissembler in speech; cf. French ironie.
1. A trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs.
2. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.
Literary technique that achieves the effect of “saying one thing and meaning another” through the use of humor or mild sarcasm. It can be traced through all periods of literature, from classical Greek and Roman epics and dramas to the good-humored and subtle irony of Chaucer and the 20th-century writer’s method for dealing with nihilism and despair, as in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
The Greek philosopher Plato used irony in his dialogues, in which Socrates elicits truth through a pretence of naivety. Sophocles’ use of dramatic irony also has a high seriousness, as in Oedipus Rex, where Oedipus prays for the discovery and punishment of the city’s polluter, little knowing that it is himself. Eighteenth-century skepticism provided a natural environment for irony, with Jonathan Swift using the device as a powerful weapon in Gulliver’s Travels and elsewhere. + prikaži više

ETYM Latin libellus a little book, pamphlet, libel, lampoon, dim. of liber the liber or inner bark of a tree.
A tort consisting of false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person.
In law, defamation published in a permanent form, such as in a newspaper, book, or broadcast.
A libel may be directed to a living or a dead person; either may be actionable. A person is defamed when publication of false and malicious statements hold the person up to public scorn, hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or impugn a person's capacity to perform a job. Truth of a published statement is a defense against an action for libel. With respect to public officials and public figures, the press has some protection against actions for libel in that malice and reckless disregard for the truth must be shown. See also slander. + prikaži više

ETYM French moquerie.
1. The act of mocking, deriding, and exposing to contempt, by mimicry, by insincere imitation, or by a false show of earnestness; a counterfeit appearance.
2. Insulting or contemptuous action or speech; contemptuous merriment; derision; ridicule.
3. Subject of laughter, derision, or sport.

ETYM French sarcasme, Latin sarcasmus, Greek sarkasmos, from sarkazein to tear flesh like dogs, to bite the lips in rage, to speak bitterly, to sneer, from sarx, sarkos, flesh.
Witty language used to convey insults or scorn; SYN. irony, satire, caustic remark.

1. An expression of scorn, derision, or contempt; gibe
2. An object of scorn, mockery, or derision

ETYM Old Eng. scorn, scarn, scharn, Old Fren. escarn, escharn, eschar, of German origin; cf. Old High Germ. skern mockery, skernôn to mock; but cf. also Old Fren. escorner to mock.
To deride; to treat with mockery, contempt, and scorn; to despise.

A sarcastic challenge or insult