Mock

v. t. [imp. & p. p. MOCKED (mōkt); p. pr. & vb. n. MOCKING.] [Fr. moquer, Pr. mochar, from Gr. μωκῶν, μωκάσθαι, to mock, mimic, ridicule, from μῶκος, mockery.] 1. To imitate in contempt or derision; to mimic for the sake of derision; to deride by mimicry; to mimic. I long, till Edward fall by war’s mischance. For mocking marriage with a dame of France. Shak. 2. To treat with scorn or contempt; to deride. Let not ambition mock their useful toil. Gray. 3. To disappoint the hopes of; to deceive; to delude; to tantalize; as, to mock expectation. Thou hast mocked me, and told me lies. Judg. xvi. 13. He will not Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence. Milton. Syn.—To deride; ridicule; taunt; jeer; tantalize; disappoint. See DERIDE.

v. i. To make sport in contempt or in jest, or to speak jestingly. When thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? Job xi 3

n. 1. Ridicule; derision; sneer; an act manifesting contempt.

Fools make a mock at sin. Prov. xiv. 9.

What shall be the portion of those who make a mock at every thing sacred? Tillotson.

2Sense 2. Imitation; mimicry. [Rare.] Crashaw.

a. Imitating reality, but not real; false; counterfeit; assumed. “That superior greatness and mock majesty.” Spectator.

☞ Mock is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, mock-epic, mock-fight, mock-modest, mock-modesty, mock-rainbow, mock-serious, mock-sun, mock-tragic, and the like.