Satire Terms

Satire

Writing that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize human foolishness or social problems

Horatian Satire

Light, playful and amused satire meat to gently correct people or society

Juvenilia satire

Bitter, harsh, and angry satire that attacks vice, corruption, or injustice

High comedy

Clever, sophisticated comedy that focuses on ideas, manner and witty dialogue.

Low comedy

Broad, physical, or crude humor, often relying on jokes, mishaps, or bodily comedy

Knaves and fools

Two common satiric targets: knaves are dishonest or selfish people; fools are naive, ignorant, or ridiculous people.

Parody

A humorous imitation of a recognizable work, style, or author that exaggerates its features.

Burlesque

A comic imitation that reads a serious subject in an absurd way or an unimportant subject in an overly serious way.

Travesty

A deliberate ridiculous imitation or distorted version of something serious or dignified.

Mock-heoric

A form that uses grand, epic language and conventions for a trivial subject.

Lampoon

A sharp, often personal satire aimed at a specific person, group, or institution.

Farce

An exaggerated, improbable comedy built on absurd situations, mistaken identities, and rapid action.

Slapstick

Physical comedy such as falls, chases, collisions, or exaggerated violence.

Black comedy

Comedy that treats disturbing, grim, or taboo subjects in a humorous way.

Bathos

A sudden drop from the serious or elevated to the trivial or ridiculous, often for comedic effect

Deflation

Reducing someone or something lofty, powerful, or important to a more ordinary or ridiculous level

Incongruity

The unexpected mismatch between what we expect and what actually appears or happens.

Non sequitur

A statement or event that does to logically follow from what came before it

Caricature

An exaggerated portrayal of a persons traits to make the person recognizable and ridiculous

Colloquialism

Informal, everyday language or regional expressions used in speech.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect expression used in place of one that may be harsh or unpleasant.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or humor

Litotes

Understatement that makes an affirmative point by denying its opposite

Understatement

Making something seem less important, serious, or intense than it really is.

Oxymoron

Two contradictory words placed together

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but reveals a possible truth

Pun/zeugma

A pun plays on multiple meanings or similar sounds. A zeugma uses words with two different meanings in the same sentence.

Malapropism

The humorous misuse of a word that sounds like the intended word

Wit

Clever, quick, and often surprising use of language or ideas

Verbal irony

A speaker says one thing but means another. Sarcasm is usually a sharper, more cutting type of verbal irony

Situational Irony

What happens if different from—and often the opposite of—what is expected

Dramatic Irony

The audience knows something important that a character doe snot know

Sarcasm

Sharp, bitter or mocking language intended to hurt or ridicule

Invective

Harsh, insulting, abusive language directed at a person or group

Disparagement

Language that belittles, demeans, or speaks disrespectfully about someone or something

Mockery

Imitating or making fun of someone or something in a scornful way,

Stereotyping

Reducing people to oversimplified, fixed ideas about a group

Philosophes

Enlightenment thinkers who used reason to question tradition, government, religion, and social inequality

Neoclassical

A style inspired by classical Greek and Roman Ideals: Order, balance, reason, rules, and restraint

Romanticism

A movement that values emotion, imagination, nature, individual experience, and rebellion against strict rules.