Satire often takes the form of drawn art, like in this early 19th century cartoon
Etymology
From Middle French satire , from Old French , from Latin satira , from earlier satura , from lanx satura ( “ full dish ” ) , from feminine of satur . Altered in Latin by influence of Ancient Greek σάτυρος ( sáturos , “ satyr ” ) , on the mistaken notion that the form is related to the Greek σατυρικόν δράμα ( saturikón dráma , “ satyr drama ” ) .
Noun
satire (countable and uncountable , plural satires )
( uncountable ) A literary device of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change or highlighting a shortcoming in the work of another. Imitation , humor , irony , and exaggeration are often used to aid this.
( countable ) A satirical work.
a stinging satire of American politics.
( uncountable , dated ) Severity of remark.
1898 , George Bernard Shaw , Caesar and Cleopatra :CAESAR. No, by the gods! would that it had been! Vengeance at least is human. No, I say: those severed right hands, and the brave Vercingetorix basely strangled in a vault beneath the Capitol, were (with shuddering satire ) a wise severity, a necessary protection to the commonwealth, a duty of statesmanship—follies and fictions ten times bloodier than honest vengeance!
Usage notes
Often confused with parody , which does not necessarily have an element of social change.
Translations
literary technique
Afrikaans: satire
Albanian: satirë (sq) f
Arabic: هِجَاء m ( hijāʔ ) , هَجْو m ( hajw )
Armenian: երգիծանք (hy) ( ergicankʻ ) , երգիծաբանություն (hy) ( ergicabanutʻyun )
Azerbaijani: satira , həcv
Belarusian: саты́ра f ( satýra )
Bulgarian: са́тира (bg) f ( sátira )
Burmese: သရော်စာ (my) ( sa.rauca )
Catalan: sàtira (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 諷刺 / 讽刺 ( fung3 ci3 )
Hokkien: 諷刺 / 讽刺 (zh-min-nan) ( hóng-chhì )
Mandarin: 諷刺 / 讽刺 (zh) ( fěngcì )
Czech: satira (cs) f
Danish: satire c
Dutch: satire (nl) f
Estonian: satiir
Finnish: satiiri (fi)
French: satire (fr) f
Georgian: სატირა ( saṭira )
German: Satire (de) f
Greek: σάτιρα (el) f ( sátira )
Haitian Creole: satir
Hebrew: סָטִירָה \ סאטירה (he) f ( satíra )
Hindi: कटूपहास ( kaṭūphās ) , उपसाह ( upsāh )
Hungarian: szatíra (hu)
Icelandic: satíra f , háðsádeila (is) f
Irish: aoir f
Italian: satira (it) f , satirica f ( uncommon )
Japanese: 風刺 (ja) ( ふうし, fūshi ) , 皮肉 (ja) ( ひにく, hiniku )
Kazakh: сатира ( satira ) , сықақ ( syqaq )
Korean: 풍자(風刺) (ko) ( pungja )
Kyrgyz: сатира (ky) ( satira )
Latvian: satīra f
Lithuanian: satyra f
Macedonian: сатира f ( satira )
Malay: satira
Maori: kōrero whakarōrā
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хошигнол (mn) ( xošignol ) , хошин (mn) ( xošin )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: satire (no) m
Ossetian: сатирӕ ( satiræ )
Pashto: طنز (ps) m ( tanz ) , هجوه f ( háǰwa )
Persian: طنز (fa) ( tanz ) , هجو (fa) ( hajv )
Polish: satyra (pl) f
Portuguese: sátira (pt) f
Romanian: satiră (ro) f
Russian: сати́ра (ru) f ( satíra )
Scottish Gaelic: aoir f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: са̀тира f
Roman: sàtira (sh) f
Slovak: satira f
Slovene: satira (sl) f
Spanish: sátira (es) f
Swahili: tashtiti
Swedish: satir (sv) c
Tagalog: satira
Tajik: ҳаҷв ( hajv ) , танз ( tanz )
Thai: การเสียดสี (th) ( gaan-sìiat-sǐi )
Turkish: yergi (tr) , hiciv (tr)
Turkmen: satira
Ukrainian: сати́ра f ( satýra )
Urdu: طنز ( tanz ) , ہجو ( hajv )
Uyghur: ھەجۋە ( hejwe ) , ساتىرا ( satira )
Uzbek: satira (uz) , hajv (uz)
Vietnamese: châm biếm (vi)
Volapük: satir
Further reading
“satire ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“satire ”, in The Century Dictionary [ … ] , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /satiːrə/ , [saˈtˢiːɐ]
Noun
satire c (singular definite satiren , plural indefinite satirer )
satire
Inflection
More information common gender, Singular ...
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Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˌsaːˈtiː.rə/
Hyphenation: sa‧ti‧re
Rhymes: -iːrə