Lexic.us

Definition of Satire

1. Noun. Witty language used to convey insults or scorn. "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"

Definition of Satire

1. n. A composition, generally poetical, holding up vice or folly to reprobation; a keen or severe exposure of what in public or private morals deserves rebuke; an invective poem; as, the Satires of Juvenal.

Definition of Satire

1. Noun. A literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. Humour is often used to aid this. ¹

2. Noun. A satirical work. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Satire

1. the use of derisive wit to attack folly or wickedness [n -S] : SATIRIC [adj]

Medical Definition of Satire

1. 1. A composition, generally poetical, holding up vice or folly to reprobation; a keen or severe exposure of what in public or private morals deserves rebuke; an invective poem; as, the Satires of Juvenal. 2. Keeness and severity of remark; caustic exposure to reprobation; trenchant wit; sarcasm. Synonym: Lampoon, sarcasm, irony, ridicule, pasquinade, burlesque, wit, humor. Origin: L. Satira, satura, fr. Satura (sc. Lanx) a dish filled with various kinds of fruits, food composed of various ingredients, a mixture, a medley, fr. Satur full of food, sated, fr. Sat, satis, enough: cf. F. Satire. See Sate, Sad, and cf. Saturate. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Satire

Literary usage of Satire

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Poetical Works of John Dryden by John Dryden (1909)
"EXPLANATORY NOTES ON THE SECOND satire let, or that other color more approaching to the blue. I have not room to justify my conjecture. ..."

2. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"The nice and delicate perception of the former type of character may be fairly driven into satire by the vulgarity and obtuseness of the second, ..."

3. The Literary History of the American Revolution, 1763-1783 by Moses Coit Tyler (1897)
"The change in American literary expression caused by the transfer of the issue from reason to force—The development of satire as a prominent form of ..."

4. A History of German Literature by John George Robertson (1902)
"CHAPTER V. satire AND DRAMA IN THE LATER SIXTEENTH CENTURY. ... in dissociating itself from satire and didacticism ; and thus the word novel is hardly to be ..."

5. A History of German Literature by John George Robertson (1902)
"CHAPTER V. satire AND DRAMA IN THE LATER SIXTEENTH CENTURY. ... in dissociating itself from satire and didacticism; and thus the word novel is hardly to be ..."

Other Resources: