1
as in spoof
a work that imitates and exaggerates another work for comic effect
the musical is a parody of every biblical epic ever made
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2
as in joke
a poor, insincere, or insulting imitation of something
the young man sported a feeble parody of a mustache in a vain attempt to make himself look older
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to mock
to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of
parodying a public figure's distinctive mannerisms takes particular talent
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of parody
Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
André settles in for a minute, riffing with O’Brien about his own series, a parody of late-night talk shows, which had recently premièred on Adult Swim.
—Chris Almeida, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2025
Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 21 Aug. 2025
The original Scary Movie franchise parodied the teen-slasher flicks that were so abundant in the late ’90s and aughts.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for parody
Noun
Young Frankenstein is a parody of the horror genre, drawing inspiration from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
André settles in for a minute, riffing with O’Brien about his own series, a parody of late-night talk shows, which had recently premièred on Adult Swim.
—Chris Almeida, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2025
Verb
ChatGPT is also parodied for offering empty praise and generic advice.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 21 Aug. 2025
The original Scary Movie franchise parodied the teen-slasher flicks that were so abundant in the late ’90s and aughts.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for parody
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parody
Noun
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Alan Dershowitz, the famed attorney who once counted Epstein as a client, submitted a spoof cover of Vanity Fair, tweaked as Vanity Unfair, with fake headlines speculating that Epstein was Jack the Ripper and had financed the terrorist group Al Qaeda.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
9 Sep. 2025
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Other early influences included a stint assisting Ken Shapiro, director of 1974’s pre-SNL sketch spoof The Groove Tube.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Though the movie is accessible to new fans, there are plenty of winks and nods for diehards who can understand what might seem, to the uninitiated, like cheesy moments—a cringeworthy English rap verse, a scene parodying the product placement in K-dramas—as self-aware jokes.—
Yvonne Kim,
The Atlantic,
12 Sep. 2025
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That means having to cut jokes that don't fit his do-no-harm MO.—
Erin Jensen,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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While the performative male has been mocked online for appearing inauthentic, Rosen and Park see it as a net positive that men are making an effort to develop genuine taste and veer away from leather recliners with cup holders and T-shirts as pillowcases.—
Viv Chen,
Architectural Digest,
9 Sep. 2025
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His friend Daniel Georges, humorously and wisely played by arthouse favorite Isaach De Bankolé, is a priest who tries to get him on the right track, even sending him articles from the Catholic Worker, only for Robbie to mock him by knocking on the table and asking if God’s inside the linoleum.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Developer Arrowhead has characterized the game as a satire.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
12 Sep. 2025
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What Castro depicts, in pointillist satire, is the way someone on the inside might come to agree.—
Jeremy Gordon,
The Atlantic,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The characters are turning into caricatures — especially Martin Short’s Oliver Putnam.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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Easy isn’t a caricature, even if the people and events around him increasingly feel that way.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Advanced adversaries are now using generative AI to construct deepfake biometrics, complete PII profiles with believable digital histories and even replicate consistent interaction patterns that imitate human behavior.—
Rohan Pinto,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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In the image, the president is also backdropped by a city beach covered with fire and smoke, seemingly imitating an active war zone.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Barely any other media in recent times has given me an instant shock of glee or revulsion like this absurd anarcho-cartoon being stretched and squeezed to its most grotesque and wholesome clickbait limits.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
10 Sep. 2025
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Everything from news about a deadly stampede to cartoons that lampoon Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been the subject of removal orders.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Ford dropped it from the Explorer’s retail lineup, but continues to offer it in police vehicles, which benefit from its ability to power AC and other accessories without running the engine when parked, as patrol vehicles often spend lots of time doing.—
Mark Phelan,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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Never follow your boyfriend to college, especially a seemingly mediocre college, as Belly does with Jeremiah to the fictional Finch.—
Vogue,
Vogue,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Parody.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parody. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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