What's the difference between bluster and ridicule?

Bluster


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To blow fitfully with violence and noise, as wind; to be windy and boisterous, as the weather.
  • (v. i.) To talk with noisy violence; to swagger, as a turbulent or boasting person; to act in a noisy, tumultuous way; to play the bully; to storm; to rage.
  • (v. t.) To utter, or do, with noisy violence; to force by blustering; to bully.
  • (n.) Fitful noise and violence, as of a storm; violent winds; boisterousness.
  • (n.) Noisy and violent or threatening talk; noisy and boastful language.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) North Korea's blustering defiance at the annual US-South Korean exercises masks just a little fear that they could easily be turned into an all-out attack, and seems to work on the principle that the more you shout, the safer you will be.
  • (2) For all the bluster from Coalition MPs, farming communities will lose out.
  • (3) Ed Balls's bluster is confused and hypocritical when the reality is he'd do it all again," Fallon said.
  • (4) The curse of playing Ari Gold is that Jeremy Piven may have to spend the rest of his life trying to convince the world he is not a rage-fuelled blustering asshole.
  • (5) At which point restraint becomes as powerful as the Seeds' ravenous beer-hall bluster; a ten-minute Stagger Lee is a masterclass in tension and drama, Cave balancing precariously on the crowd barrier with audience members holding him up by the boot-heel as he leans out to sing his tale of a deviant killer directly into the eyes of a hypnotised girl in white hoisted on someone's shoulders.
  • (6) Cameron added that recent warnings from banks such as Lloyds and RBS, and from firms such as BP and Shell proved that the economic and financial risks of independence were not bluff and bluster or bullying.
  • (7) A steady rise in the yes vote in recent opinion polls also established that voters did not buy "the bluff and bluster" of those opposed to independence.
  • (8) He has a pretty easy ride if he’s prepared but if he tries to bluster it could hurt him,” Mann said.
  • (9) Terre'Blanche's credibility as a political leader collapsed after the anti-black threats voiced by the extreme white right proved to be little more than bluster.
  • (10) But for all Clegg's bluster, he's not setting tough enough tests for the changes the prime minister must make to his NHS plans.
  • (11) This is nothing but bluster and hot air with precisely nothing achieved.
  • (12) The book has action, but it also has a point; it has pathos, where the film is all comic-action bluster.
  • (13) Besides the election of Trump, with all his attendant nationalist bluster and populist economic and trade pronouncements, Brexit has seen the UK turn its back on Europe on the back of economic and immigration concerns, and closer to home, the 2016 federal election culminated in the resurgence of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party.
  • (14) While many fiscal conservatives view Huckabee warily, he has a solid social conservative thread and a folksy charm that would pair well with Trump’s big city bluster.
  • (15) Underneath all the showbiz bluster, he was an old softie.
  • (16) From all accounts, he was a bully, a manipulator, and a blustering, pessimistic, emotionally dishonest man.
  • (17) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Hillary Clinton criticizes the ‘bluster and bigotry’ of the Republican campaign Before Tuesday’s elections, Clinton was ahead of Sanders by 673 to 477 pledged delegates and – with the vast majority of super delegates too – was nearly halfway to securing the 2,383 needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
  • (18) On the other hand, if Iran is dragging its feet and compliance problems have arisen, that would make it much easier for a new president to walk away from the deal.” Einhorn also expressed doubts that a Republican president, for all of the bluster among the current crop of candidates, would actually turn his back on an agreement if it appeared to be working.
  • (19) I think I have made a lot of sacrifices,” he blustered.
  • (20) In the past, Zevon has occasionally been guilty of LA sludge-rock bluster, but these songs flash back to the rough simplicity of his original inspiration, Bob Dylan.

Ridicule


Definition:

  • (n.) An object of sport or laughter; a laughingstock; a laughing matter.
  • (n.) Remarks concerning a subject or a person designed to excite laughter with a degree of contempt; wit of that species which provokes contemptuous laughter; disparagement by making a person an object of laughter; banter; -- a term lighter than derision.
  • (n.) Quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness.
  • (v. t.) To laugh at mockingly or disparagingly; to awaken ridicule toward or respecting.
  • (a.) Ridiculous.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Historically, what made SNL’s campaign coverage so necessary was its ability to highlight the subtle absurdities of the election and exaggerate the ridiculous.
  • (2) It is ridiculous,' says Li Rui, a former secretary of Mao Zedong.
  • (3) No doubt it was intended as a bold and graphic way of presenting the Iranian nuclear threat, but much of the initial response – on Twitter, at least – was ridicule.
  • (4) "It would be ridiculous to encourage shale gas when in reality its greenhouse gas footprint could be as bad as or worse than coal.
  • (5) He says he won't respond to the latest ridiculous rumor of Republican action.
  • (6) At the 2nd stage, as the self-esteem lowered and negative attitude of other schoolchildren arose, the neurotic disorders emerged alongside with prevalent depressive reactions and fear of getting bad marks and being an object of ridicule at school.
  • (7) Once I’d checked she was OK I said, ‘Stop crying now.’ ” So it’s about managing emotions: ‘I’m going to need you to get a grip.’” “If you’ve got interesting points to make about the devaluing of serious words like bullying and depression, why make them in a way that sounds like you’re ridiculing people who are suffering?” I ask.
  • (8) Walden said the comparison with Comet was “ridiculous”.
  • (9) Well, Machado put those skills on display on Sunday, and this is an excuse to bring you his ridiculous play against the Yankees.
  • (10) Alamgir was ridiculed on social media after he told the BBC that the building may have collapsed after opposition activists enforcing a general strike "pushed at the gate and columns of the building".
  • (11) "The ANC pretence that we don't have a social crisis in this country is quite ridiculous.
  • (12) So we started asking them ridiculous questions about being single," says Lucas, "and the sheer number of misunderstandings about each other's lives felt like comedic material."
  • (13) "Rio Ferdinand's decision-making, the chances he has taken, it is ridiculous.
  • (14) It's ridiculous, because there will soon be a massive public outcry about how there's nowhere for kids to go.
  • (15) Westminster wits had taken to ridiculing the rebel movement against Gordon Brown as a "peasants' revolt", a cohort without influence.
  • (16) To create a new bank, which we understand is an option, which could be called Glyn Mills, is ridiculously back to the future.
  • (17) JD, Oxford More than three months to get a replacement debit card is ridiculous, and we agree that you have been more than patient.
  • (18) The Kiev-appointed governor, Serhiy Taruta, has dismissed this poll as ridiculous, pointing out that most of the region's 2.4 million voters won't take part.
  • (19) Liberal Democrats and Conservatives today ridiculed a request by Labour to broadcasters to focus more on policy analysis.
  • (20) Edge: Cardinals Bench Shane Robinson made a name for himself in Game Four of the NLCS with a pinch-hit home run and actually finished the NLCS with an OPS of 1.278, which is completely ridiculous and tops any of his teammates by a country mile.