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Literary notes about Deride (AI summary)

Literary authors frequently use "deride" to capture the act of mocking or belittling, whether directed toward a person’s character, a set of ideas, or even social customs. In poetic verse, the word can evoke a graceful, almost sardonic dismissal of beauty or charm [1], while in narrative dialogue it conveys a more immediate, personal scorn when one character ridicules another [2]. Philosophical texts also favor "deride" as a tool to critique established doctrines or cultural norms, thereby challenging the status quo with a blend of wit and disdain [3]. In reflective memoirs or confessional passages, it is employed to underscore a speaker’s defiance or vulnerability in the face of criticism [4]. Even in dramatic works, "deride" is adapted to accentuate the interplay between authority and irreverence, enriching the text with both literal and symbolic layers of meaning [5][6].
  1. His sides the tamarisk's slenderness deride, so lithe they are, Whence for conceit in his own charms still drunken doth he fare.
    — from Tales from the Arabic — Volume 03
  2. How he did deride me when I asked our mother the foolish question—“Have bees whiskers?”
    — from We and the World: A Book for Boys. Part I by Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing
  3. This doctrine raises social life, inasmuch as it teaches us to hate no man, neither to despise, to deride, to envy, or to be angry with any.
    — from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza
  4. Let him who seeth them not, deride me for saying these things, and I will pity him, while he derides me.
    — from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine
  5. II.44 Make mouths at him ] i.e. , deride him by antic gestures and mockery.
    — from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
  6. Διαχλευάζω, ( διά & χλευάζω ) f. άσω, to jeer outright, deride, v.r. Ac. 2.13.
    — from A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by William Greenfield

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