travesty

²travesty

noun

plural travesties

Definition of TRAVESTY

1

: a burlesque translation or literary or artistic imitation usually grotesquely incongruous in style, treatment, or subject matter

2

: a debased, distorted, or grossly inferior imitation <a travesty of justice>

Examples of TRAVESTY

1. It is a travesty and a tragedy that so many people would be denied the right to vote.
2. The trial was a travesty of justice.

Origin of TRAVESTY

obsolete English travesty disguised, parodied, from French travesti, past participle of travestir to disguise, from Italian travestire, from tra- across (from Latin trans-) + vestire to dress, from Latin — more at vest

First Known Use: 1674

Related to TRAVESTY

Synonyms: caricature, cartoon, farce, joke, parody, sham, mockery

Related Words: burlesque, comedy; lampoon, takeoff; counterfeit, fake, feigning, forgery, hoax, humbug, knockoff, phony (also phoney), pretense (or pretence), sham, simulation

Near Antonyms: homage, tribute

see all synonyms and antonyms

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See Synonym Discussion at caricature

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody