[Satire] New UGC Guidelines Released: A Survival Guide For General Category Students (2026 Edition)

The meaning of satire is wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly (as of a person, government, or society); Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. Dec 20, 2025in literary works, satire can be direct or indirect.

With direct satire, the narrator speaks directly to the reader. With indirect satire, the author’s intent is realized within the narrative and its story. Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone.

Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take aim at other targets as. Satire exposes and criticizes foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. Satire is the art of making someone or something look ridiculous, raising laughter in order to embarrass, humble, or discredit its targets.

See examples of satire used in a sentence. Satire is a literary term and form of rhetoric that uses various devices to expose flaws, critique society, and ridicule politics.