ridicule、mock、scoff与sneer这些动词均含“嘲笑”之意。
ridicule : 多指有意地用言语对戏弄某人,以使之显得渺小,不重要。此种嘲笑善意恶意均可。
- I admired her all the more for allowing them to ridicule her and never striking back.
她能听任他们嘲笑却从不还击,这让我更加敬佩她。
mock : 指一种挖苦的,带挑衅性的嘲笑。
- The beautiful weather seemed to mock them.
阳光明媚的天气似乎在嘲弄他们。
——《哈利·波特与混血王子》(Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
scoff : 指对一般受到尊重的事物的嘲笑。
- Don't scoff─she's absolutely right.
别嘲笑她——她绝对正确。
sneer : 指除了用讽刺言语讥笑外还带轻蔑的表情。(拓展学习:小词详解 | sneer)
- 他嘲笑好以反问答问的人。
He sneered at people who liked to retort a question by another question.