lampoon

1 of 2

noun

lam·​poon lam-ˈpün 

: satire sense 1

specifically : a harsh satire usually directed against an individual

He said such ridiculous things that he was often the target of lampoons in the press.

lampoon

2 of 2

verb

lampooned; lampooning; lampoons

transitive verb

: to make the subject of a lampoon : ridicule

lampooner noun

lampoonery

lam-ˈpü-nə-rē 

-ˈpün-rē

noun

Did you know?

Lampoon can be a noun or a verb. The noun lampoon (meaning "satire" or, specifically, "a harsh satire usually directed against an individual") was first used in English in the 17th century and may be familiar from the names of humor publications such as The Harvard Lampoon and its now-defunct spinoff National Lampoon. Both the noun and the verb come from the French word lampon, which likely originated from lampons, a form of the verb lamper, meaning "to drink to the bottom." So what is the connection? Lampons! (meaning "Let us guzzle!"—that is, drink greedily) was a frequent refrain in 17th-century French satirical poems.

Synonyms

Noun

• pasquinade
• satire

Examples of lampoon in a Sentence

Noun

He said such ridiculous things that he was often the target of lampoons in the press.

this classic musical is a lampoon of the movie business at the time when sound was introduced

Verb

The politician was lampooned in cartoons.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

All manner of mindless momentarily distracting entertainment scraps are thrown into this stew, from the Hokey Pokey to a lampoon of the birth of Jesus. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 13 Dec. 2024

Mary Harron’s American Psycho owes a debt to the spot-on evisceration of the hollow, nihilistic corporate culture that Nichols lampoons here. —EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024

Verb

Meanwhile, a new sitcom, English Teacher, gently lampoons the sometimes intimidating rules of correctness without offending anyone. —Tom Gliatto, People.com, 10 Dec. 2024

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ dreams of a post-austerity Greece have been dismissed as impossible, and British Labour Party head Jeremy Corbyn has widely been lampooned since his appointment as unelectable due to his anti-austerity political platform. —Andrea Mammone, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2015

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from 17th-century French lampon, perhaps from lampons! "let us drink up!", first plural imperative of lamper "to drink up, drink to the bottom quickly," nasalized variant of laper "to lap, lap up," going back to Vulgar Latin *lappāre, of expressive origin; allegedly from the use of lampons! in the refrains of verse satires

Note: This etymology is proffered by Hatzfeld-Darmstetter-Thomas's Dictionnaire générale de la langue française, vol. 2, 1895. The first citation offered is from Paul Scarron's Le virgile travesty (1648-53). The text of a satirical song containing lampons! is given in Pierre-Gustave Brunet's Le nouveau Siècle de Louis XIV, ou Choix de chansons historiques et satiriques presque toutes inédités, de 1634 à 1712 (Paris, 1857), pp. 5-10. (It is also the earliest use of the verb lamper recorded in the Trésor de la langue française.) Note, however, that a verb lamponner is entered in Randle Cotgrave's A Dictionary of the French and English Tongues (1611), cross-referred to lanterner "to quaffe, revel, feast it all night long," among other senses.

Verb

derivative of lampoon entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1645, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1657, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

lampoon

1 of 2 noun

lam·​poon lam-ˈpün 

: a writing or drawing that makes fun of a person

lampoon

2 of 2 verb

: to make fun of by a lampoon : ridicule

lampooner noun