poke fun at sb
to make someone seem ridiculous by making jokes about them or laughing unkindly at them

[TahlilGaran] Advanced Learner's Dictionary ▲

mock formal to laugh at and say unkind things about a person, institution, belief etc, to show that you do not have a high opinion of them. Mock is a formal word - in everyday English people usually say make fun of:
The press mocked his attempts to appeal to young voters.
She was mocked by other pupils in her class.
You shouldn’t mock the afflicted! (=you should not make fun of people who cannot help having problems - used especially ironically, when really you think it is funny too)
make fun of somebody/something to make someone or something seem stupid by making unkind jokes about them:
Peter didn’t seem to realize that they were making fun of him.
It used to be fashionable to make fun of the European Parliament.
laugh at somebody/something to make unkind or funny remarks about someone or something, because they seem stupid or strange:
I don’t want the other kids to laugh at me.
People would laugh at the idea nowadays.
poke fun at somebody/something to make someone or something seem silly by making jokes about them, especially in a way that is funny but not really cruel:
a TV series that regularly poked fun at the government
He’s in no position to poke fun at other people’s use of English!
ridicule formal to make unkind remarks that make someone or something seem stupid:
Catesby ridiculed his suggestion.
His ideas were widely ridiculed at the time.
Scientists ridiculed him for doubting the existence of the greenhouse effect.
deride formal to make remarks that show you think that something is stupid or useless - often used when you think that the people who do this are wrong:
Some forms of alternative medicine – much derided by doctors – have been shown to help patients.
the system that Marxists previously derided as ‘bourgeois democracy’

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

poke fun at
to joke about someone, to laugh at someone, to tease someone
The woman is always poking fun at the way her husband plays golf.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

poke fun at
See: MAKE FUN OF.
{v. phr.}, {informal} To joke about; laugh at; tease; mock.
Men like to make fun of the trimmings on women's hats.

James poked fun at the new pupil because her speech was not like the other pupils.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

poke fun at someone
to joke about someone, to laugh at someone, to tease someone
The woman is always poking fun at the way her husband plays golf.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲