Mock

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -É’k

Alternative forms

• mocque obsolete

Origin

From Middle English mokken, from Middle French mocquer ("to deride, jeer"), from Middle Dutch mocken ("to mumble") or Middle Low German mucken ("to grumble, talk with the mouth half-opened"), both from Old Saxon *mokkian, *mukkian ("to low, mumble"), from Proto-Germanic *mukkijaną, *mūhaną ("to low, bellow, shout"), from Proto-Indo-European *mūg-, *mūk- ("to low, mumble"). Cognate with Old High German firmucken ("to be stupid"), Modern German mucksen ("to utter a word"), Dutch dialectal mokkel ("kiss").

Full definition of mock

Noun

1. An imitation, usually of lesser quality.
2. Mockery, the act of mocking.
• Bible, Proverbs xiv. 9Fools make a mock at sin.
3. A practice exam set by an educating institution to prepare students for an important exam.He got a B in his History mock, but improved to an A in the exam.

Verb

1. To mimic, to simulate.
• ShakespeareTo see the life as lively mocked as ever
  Still sleep mocked death.
• ShakespeareMocking marriage with a dame of France.
2. To make fun of by mimicking, to taunt.
• Bible, 1 Kings xviii. 27Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud.
• GrayLet not ambition mock their useful toil.
3. To tantalise, and disappoint (the hopes of).
• Bible, Judges xvi. 13Thou hast mocked me, and told me lies.
• 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II, Act V, Scene III:And with his spirit sadly I survive,
  to mock the expectations of the world;
  to frustrate prophecies, and to raze out
  rotten opinion ...
• 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act III, Scene III:"It is the greene-ey'd Monster, which doth mocke
  The meate it feeds on."
• 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:Why do I overlive?
  Why am I mocked with death, and lengthened out
  to deathless pain?
• MiltonHe will not ...
  Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence.
• 1765, Benjamin Heath, A revisal of Shakespear's text, page 563 (a commentary on the "mocke the meate" line from Othello):‘Mock’ certainly never signifies to loath. Its common signification is, to disappoint.
• 1812, The Critical Review or, Annals of Literature, page 190:The French revolution indeed is a prodigy which has mocked the expectations both of its friends and its foes. It has cruelly disappointed the fondest hopes of the first, nor has it observed that course which the last thought that it would have pursued.

Synonyms

Adjective

1. imitation, not genuine (mock turtle soup, mock leather); fake