From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Deride \De*ride"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Derided; p. pr. & vb.
n. Deriding.] [L. deridere, derisum; de- + rid?re to laugh.
See Ridicule.]
To laugh at with contempt; to laugh to scorn; to turn to
ridicule or make sport of; to mock; to scoff at.
[1913 Webster]
And the Pharisees, also, . . . derided him. --Luke xvi.
14.
[1913 Webster]
Sport that wrinkled Care derides.
And Laughter holding both his sides. --Milton.
Syn: To mock; laugh at; ridicule; insult; taunt; jeer;
banter; rally.
Usage: To Deride, Ridicule, Mock, Taunt. A man may
ridicule without any unkindness of feeling; his object
may be to correct; as, to ridicule the follies of the
age. He who derides is actuated by a severe a
contemptuous spirit; as, to deride one for his
religious principles. To mock is stronger, and denotes
open and scornful derision; as, to mock at sin. To
taunt is to reproach with the keenest insult; as, to
taunt one for his misfortunes. Ridicule consists more
in words than in actions; derision and mockery evince
themselves in actions as well as words; taunts are
always expressed in words of extreme bitterness.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
deride
v 1: treat or speak of with contempt; "He derided his student's
attempt to solve the biggest problem in mathematics"