witty language used to convey insults or scorn; " he used sarcasm to upset his opponent"; " irony is wasted on the stupid"; " Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"-- Johathan Swift

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.

Keeness and severity of remark; caustic exposure to reprobation; trenchant wit; sarcasm.

A kind of literature, usually poetry, in which vice and folly are held up to ridicule; a single work of literature of this sort; sarcasm.

Satirist.

A species of poetry, exposing and turning to ridicule vice or folly: severity of remark: ridicule.

Discourse or poem censuring vice or folly; witty or cutting censure.

Satiric, satirical.

The employment of sarcasm, irony, or ridicule; any writing in which vice or folly is held up to ridicule.

A composition, generally in verse, in which the vices or follies of the time arc held up to reprobation or ridicule; severity of remark or denunciation; sarcasm; ridicule.

Such witty keenness and severity of written composition on the vices and follies of the age as tend to bring them into contempt; keenness and severity of remark; irony; sarcasm.

For severe satire and irony he had few equals and no superiors. – The Facts of Reconstruction by John R. Lynch

They thought it was only her satire, and did not believe her in the least. – Not Like Other Girls by Rosa N. Carey

But this critical satire gave nobody pain. – Crotchet-Castle by Peacock, Thomas Love

She looked at him very keenly as he said these last words, watching whether there was any covert satire in them. – The Thin Red Line; and Blue Blood by Arthur Griffiths

But lighter satire, with other " applied" poetry, has shown variety and excellence. – A History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780-1895) by George Saintsbury

How would it be possible for such a satire either to be printed or acted in Russia? – Essays on Russian Novelists by William Lyon Phelps

He delighted in extravagance of a satire which usually said more than it meant, but always rested upon a foundation of good sense. – Crotchet-Castle by Peacock, Thomas Love

And I took her up, and begged her pardon; although she scarcely deserved it; for she knew that I was out of luck, and she might have spared her satire. – Lorna Doone, A Romance of Exmoor by R. D. Blackmore

His satire, " McSwiggen," printed in 1775, contains nearly half of the poems,- the only lines indeed which are of any real merit. – The Poems of Philip Freneau, Volume I (of III) by Philip Freneau

The objection inheres in all forms of applied satire- my understanding of whose laws and liberties is at least derived from reverent study of the masters. – Black Beetles in Amber by Ambrose Bierce

" Yes; more than one of your poets made their way by a satire, and Cesarini is persuaded he shall do the same. – Ernest Maltravers, Complete by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

He was not picturesque like Dickens, and I was at that time curiously eager for some adequate philosophy of life, and his social satire seemed very small beer indeed. – Confessions of a Young Man by George Moore

3. " Let Satire, then, her proper object know, And ere she strike, be sure she strike a foe." – The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown

I love to speak Truth, Sir; if that happens to be Satire, I can't help it. – The Toy Shop (1735) The King and the Miller of Mansfield (1737) by Robert Dodsley

He quitted Rome in disgust, which before long broke out in satire. – Pioneers of Science by Oliver Lodge

But the attachment of the Greek people to the Church was so strong and so universal that, although satire might be directed against the Bishops, a breach with the Church formed no part of the design of any patriot. – History of Modern Europe 1792-1878 by C. A. Fyffe

Follies and fashions have been criticised with satire, but never with spleen. – Oscar Wilde by Leonard Cresswell Ingleby

" Abuse has taken the place of satire," Mrs. Faulkner continued. – Godfrey Marten, Undergraduate by Charles Turley

He took up his writing materials, and made the satire immediately. – Antonina by Wilkie Collins

No, Mr. Emlyn; who can quit your house with an inclination for satire? – Kenelm Chillingly, Complete by Edward Bulwer-Lytton