pasquinade

P3A1S1Q10U1I1N1A1D2E1
UK/paskwɪˈneɪd/

noun

A lampoon, originally as published in public; a satire or libel on someone.

Scrabble 22

Meanings

nounpasquinade (countable and uncountable, plural pasquinades)

plural pasquinades

  1. countableuncountableA lampoon, originally as published in public; a satire or libel on someone.

    I thought the whole tale would shortly be served up in racy pasquinade—but Catherine, who might have said anything, didn't say a word.

    1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter IX, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 196
    1 more example

    Queen Juana of Castile: Swear that you speak true./Cesare: I could place my palm on the Bible, but my oath would be a pasquinade./Queen Juana: Then swear on something else./Cesare: I would, if I believed in something other than myself./Queen Juana: A dishonest man would have taken the Bible, regardless of its meaning to him, and sworn until Sunday. I accept your word.

    2014 October 27, w:Tom Fontana, Brant Englestein, Larry J. Cohen, chapter 1506 (0:41:18 from the start), in w:Borgia_(TV_series), season 3, episode 14
verbpasquinade (third-person singular simple present pasquinades, present participle pasquinading, simple past and past participle pasquinaded)

present singular third person pasquinades · participle present pasquinading · participle past pasquinaded · past pasquinaded

  1. transitiveTo satirize (someone) by using a pasquinade.

    Chantilly was a quondam cobler of the Rue St. Denis, who, becoming stage-mad, had attempted the rôle of Xerxes, in Crebillon's tragedy so called, and been notoriously pasquinaded for his pains.

    1841 March, Edgar A[llan] Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, in George R[ex] Graham, Rufus W[ilmot] Griswold, editors, Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine. […], volume XVIII, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham, published April 1841, →OCLC, page 168, column 1

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Italianpasquinata
  2. Englishpasquinade

From Middle French, from Italian pasquinata, from Pasquino, name given to a statue in Rome on which lampoons were posted.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pasquinade

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

pasquinade. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pasquinade

MLA

“pasquinade.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pasquinade. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pasquinade,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pasquinade.

Source: pasquinade on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.