satirical, a.
(səˈtɪrɪkəl)
Forms: 6 saturicall, 6–7 satyricall, 6–8 (9) -ical, (8 satyracal), 8– satirical.
[f. late L. satiric-us (see prec.) + -al1.]
1. Of or pertaining to satire; of the nature of or containing satire; satiric.
| a 1529 Skelton Agst. Garnesche iv. 139 If thow war aquentyd with alle The famous poettes saturicall. 1579 E. K. in Spenser Sheph. Cal. Gen. Argt. ¶3 For eyther they [these xij æglogues] be Plaintive,..or Recreative,..or Moral, which for the most part be mixed with some Satyrical bitternesse. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 262 b, In steade of a Rhetoricall acclamation, concluding with a Satyricall skoffe he doth advertize hym. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 108 Attella, whence were the old satyricall Comedies, which were full of baudery, and were called Attellane. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 38 Nor was the Satyricall sharpnesse, or naked plainnes of Lucilius, or Catullus, or Flaccus, by any order prohibited. 1738 Chambers Cycl. (ed. 2) s.v., Satyrical prints, and medals. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 427 Satirical songs were sung against Johann Rode. 1880 M{supc}Carthy Own Times lxvii. IV. 536 It has some of the brightest and bitterest satirical passages in the literature of our time. |
2. Disposed to or given to satire; fond of indulging in satire; characterized by satire; sarcastic.
| 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 51 Isabel..outwardly withstood such in satyrical tearmes as did inueigh against the honestie of Francesco. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 183 The satyricallest confuters. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iv. iii, A sharpe thornie-tooth'd satyricall rascall [sc. Horace]. 1612 Bacon Ess., Discourse (Arb.) 17 Certainly he that hath a Satyricall vaine, as he maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others memory. 1657 T. M. (title) The Life of a Satyrical Pvppy, Called Nim, who worrieth all those Satyrists he knowes, and barkes at the rest. 1693 Southern Maid's Last Prayer iii. i, O law! Mr. Granger, you're so strangely s'terical [sic], I belieue you laugh at us all behind our backs. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 516 Sometimes a satyrical temper broke out too much. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Lady Rich 1 Apr. (1790) 67 Disdainful smiles and satirical whispers..never fail in our assemblies, when any body appears that is not dressed exactly in the fashion. 1727 Swift Let. to Yng. Lady Wks. 1751 V. 61 The satyrical part of Mankind will needs believe, that it is not impossible to be very fine [in dress] and very filthy. 1814 R. Bland Proverbs I. Pref. 8 In his humorous and satyrical declamation. 1829 Lytton Devereux i. ii, ‘To educate them himself,’ answered my mother, with a sort of satirical gravity. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, First Visit Wks. (Bohn) II. 7 He [Carlyle] took despairing or satirical views of literature at this moment. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. xxi, She was not coldly clever and indirectly satirical, but adorably simple and full of feeling. |