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Definition of "satire" []

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

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "satire" in a sentence
  • "Of how much confusion the spelling which used to be so common, ‘satyr’ for ‘satire’, is at once the consequence, the expression, and again the cause; not indeed that this confusion first began with us {279}; for the same already found place in the Latin, where ‘satyricus’ was continually written for ‘satiricus’ out of a false assumption of the identity between the Roman _satire_ and the Greek _satyric_ drama."
  • "The second reason is that the word "satire" got attached to the film."
  • "How, then, can he help what we call satire, if he accept Mrs. Rawdon Crawley’s invitation and describe her party?"