ˈsaˌtī(ə)r, -īə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin satira, satura satirical poetry, poetic medley, from ( lanx ) satura full plate, plate filled with fruits, mixture, medley, from lanx plate + satura, feminine of satur full of food, sated — more at balance , sad
1.
a. : an ancient Roman verse commentary on a prevailing vice or folly
b. : a usually topical literary composition holding up human or individual vices, folly, abuses, or shortcomings to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other method sometimes with an intent to bring about improvement
a farcical satire about … adultery and late-achieved maturity — Orville Prescott
c. : lampoon
diabolically good satires of single authors — Anthony Boucher
d. : an expression of satire in another form
dance satire
visual satire … abetted by hilarious sound effects — M.S.Dworkin
an ungainly person, whose clothes were a continual satire on his professional skill — Bayard Taylor
2.
a. : a branch of literature ridiculing vice or folly
satire … flourishes in a stable society and presupposes homogeneous moral standards — Evelyn Waugh
the constructive purpose to which the humor and underlying hopefulness of good satire give nourishment — J.R.Newman
b. obsolete : satirist
3. : raillery used to convey rebuke or criticism : caustic comment : irony
into these paragraphs he packed his dry wit and his easy, good-natured satire on the follies of the day — Eleanor Sickels
a brilliant writer with a rare talent for corrosive satire — C.J.Rolo
Synonyms: see wit