Ridicule, n.
Etymology: [F. ridicule, L. ridiculum a jest, fr. ridiculus. See Ridiculous.]
1. An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter. [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries. Buckle. To the people . . . but a trifle, to the king but a ridicule. Foxe.
2. Remarks concerning a subject or a person designed to excite laughter with a degree of contempt; wit of that species which provokes contemptuous laughter; disparagement by making a person an object of laughter; banter; -- a term lighter than derision. We have in great measure restricted the meaning of ridicule, which would properly extend over whole region of the ridiculous, -- the laughable, -- and we have narrowed it so that in common usage it mostly corresponds to "derision", which does indeed involve personal and offensive feelings. Hare. Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne, Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. Pope.
3. Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. [Obs.] To see the ridicule of this practice. Addison.
Syn. -- Derision; banter; raillery; burlesque; mockery; irony; satire; sarcasm; gibe; jeer; sneer. -- Ridicule, Derision, Both words imply disapprobation; but ridicule usually signifies good-natured, fun-loving opposition without manifest malice, while derision is commonly bitter and scornful, and sometimes malignant.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Ridicule, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ridiculed;p. pr. & vb. n. Ridiculing.]
To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule toward or respecting. I 've known the young, who ridiculed his rage. Goldsmith.
Syn. -- To deride; banter; rally; burlesque; mock; satirize; lampoon. See Deride.
Ridicule, a.
Ridiculous. [Obs.] This action . . . became so ridicule. Aubrey.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for ridicule; he lists it under banter.
Where he writes about it:
Ridicule makes a person or thing the subject of contemptuous merriment; derision seeks to make the object derided seem utterly despicable--to laugh it to scorn. — from banter
Chaff is the coarse witticism of the streets, perhaps merry, oftener malicious; jeering is loud, rude ridicule, as of a hostile crowd or mob. — from banter