or mock·up


Origin of mock-up

First recorded in 1915–20; noun use of verb phrase mock up


verb (used with object)
  1. to attack or treat with ridicule, contempt, or derision.
  2. to ridicule by mimicry of action or speech; mimic derisively.
  3. to mimic, imitate, or counterfeit.
  4. to challenge; defy: His actions mock convention.
  5. to deceive, delude, or disappoint.
verb (used without object)
  1. to use ridicule or derision; scoff; jeer (often followed by at).
  1. a contemptuous or derisive imitative action or speech; mockery or derision.
  2. something mocked or derided; an object of derision.
  3. an imitation; counterfeit; fake.
  4. Shipbuilding.
    1. a hard pattern representing the surface of a plate with a warped form, upon which the plate is beaten to shape after furnacing.
    2. bed(def 23).
  1. feigned; not real; sham: a mock battle.
Verb Phrases
  1. mock up, to build a mock-up of.

Origin of mock

1400–50; late Middle English mokken < Middle French mocquer
Related formsmock·a·ble, adjectivemock·er, nounmock·ing·ly, adverbself-mock·ing, adjectiveun·mocked, adjectiveun·mock·ing, adjectiveun·mock·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for mock

1. deride; taunt, flout, gibe; chaff, tease. See ridicule. 5. cheat, dupe, fool, mislead. Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mockup

Historical Examples of mockup

British Dictionary definitions for mockup


  1. (when intr, often foll by at) to behave with scorn or contempt (towards); show ridicule (for)
  2. (tr) to imitate, esp in fun; mimic
  3. (tr) to deceive, disappoint, or delude
  4. (tr) to defy or frustratethe team mocked the visitors' attempt to score
  1. the act of mocking
  2. a person or thing mocked
  3. a counterfeit; imitation
  4. (often plural) informal (in England and Wales) the school examinations taken as practice before public examinations
adjective (prenominal)
  1. sham or counterfeit
  2. serving as an imitation or substitute, esp for practice purposesa mock battle; mock finals
See also mock-up
Derived Formsmockable, adjectivemocker, nounmocking, noun, adjectivemockingly, adverb

Word Origin for mock

C15: from Old French mocquer


  1. a working full-scale model of a machine, apparatus, etc, for testing, research, etc
  2. a layout of printed matter
verb mock up
  1. (tr, adverb) to build or make a mock-up of

Word Origin and History for mockup

also mock-up, "model, simulation" 1919, perhaps World War I, from mock (v.) + up (adv.). The verbal phrase mock up is attested from 1911.



early 15c., "to deceive;" mid-15c. "make fun of," from Old French mocquer "deride, jeer," of unknown origin, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *muccare "to blow the nose" (as a derisive gesture), from Latin mucus; or possibly from Middle Dutch mocken "to mumble" or Middle Low German mucken "grumble." Or perhaps simply imitative of such speech. Related: Mocked; mocking; mockingly. Replaced Old English bysmerian. Sense of "imitating," as in mockingbird and mock turtle (1763), is from notion of derisive imitation.



1540s, from mock, verb and noun. Mock-heroic is attested from 1711; mock-turtle "calf's head dressed to resemble a turtle," is from 1763; as a kind of soup from 1783.



"derisive action or speech," early 15c., from mock (v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper