Satire

How to spell satire

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce satire

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does satire mean?

1. nounThe use of humour, irony, or exaggeration to criticise or ridicule people, politics, or society.

Satire in a sentence

• The late-night show is famous for its sharp political satire.

• The novel is a biting satire of corporate greed and office culture.

Where does satire come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Satire comes from the Latin word satira, an earlier form of which was satura, meaning a 'medley' or 'mixture'. The fullest explanation traces it to the phrase lanx satura, literally a 'full dish' of assorted first fruits offered to the gods, so the original idea was something stuffed with a variety of ingredients. Roman writers used the term for a verse form that mixed many subjects and tones, and poets such as Horace and Juvenal shaped it into the witty, mocking attack on vice and folly we recognise today. English took the word in during the 1500s, partly through French satire, and the modern sense of humorous ridicule that exposes wrongdoing settled in firmly. Confusingly, the unrelated Greek word for a satyr, a goat-like woodland creature, was sometimes muddled with it in the past, which is one reason the spelling has occasionally drifted; but the proper root has nothing to do with satyrs, and remembering the 'mixture' sense helps fix the -ire ending.

How the word is built

• satir- (from Latin satira: a medley, a poetic miscellany)
• -e