Lampoon / verb / lam·poon

We use the word lampoon as both a noun and as a verb in English. As a verb, it describes the act of publicly criticizing or ridiculing someone. When used as a noun, a lampoon refers to parody or satire. Lampooning represents being ridiculed or copied in public in an unflattering way.

In a Sentence

He felt ashamed that he had become the subject of a national lampoon circulating as a political meme on the internet.

The woman lampooned the beggar who kept asking her for change while she was walking down the street.

The popular Saturday night television show dedicated an hour-long lampoon to the upcoming elections.

Etymology

The word lampoon entered the popular language as a noun during the mid-17th century. We derived the word "lampoon" from a combination of Latin and Old French words, including laper, lamper, lampons, and lampon.

Lampoon entered English as a verb in the 1650s, meaning "to ridicule." Etymologists say it is probably derived from a drinking song meant to insult and ridicule others. We still use the word lampoon today in the same sense to denote public mockery and ridicule.

Synonym

Ridicule, Parody

Antonym

Formalism, Flattery