1
as in parodies
a poor, insincere, or insulting imitation of something
rigged from the start, his trial was a travesty of justice
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spoofs
a work that imitates and exaggerates another work for comic effect
the big-screen version of the classic sitcom is actually a good-natured travesty of the TV series
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in mocks
to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of
this comedy sketch mindlessly travesties the hard work of relief workers around the world
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Recent Examples of travesties
Hunter Ingram, Variety, 8 Nov. 2025
Noun
By the season’s end, in fact, more than a few travesties are laid at Peter’s feet.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 8 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for travesties
Noun
-
How did Jane Lynch wind up in the YouTube ad parodies?—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Countless memes and parodies have circulated online.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Retro Rewind players run a Blockbuster Video-like movie-rental store set in the early 1990s, complete with spoofs of real blockbusters of the era.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Mar. 2026
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Way better than dusty game show and dinner party spoofs.—
Andy Hoglund,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Its leader, the president, abuses power, hurts the innocent, and mocks the dead before their families have even begun to grieve.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
23 Mar. 2026
-
Loznitsa neither sentimentalizes nor mocks this impulse; for him, the human will to resist, to cling fast to integrity and courage in the face of a mounting totalitarian horror, is something as real, as undeniable, and therefore worth acknowledging, as the horror itself.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The South’s special flair got lost in a haze of avocado toast pop-ups, reality show caricatures, and music festivals that turned into marketing conferences.—
Rafael Peña,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 2026
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Making matters worse, most of the supporting characters feel like caricatures.—
Chase Hutchinson,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Whether or not life imitates art remains to be seen.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
19 Mar. 2026
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Patagonia’s proprietary synthetic fill imitates down’s structure by spinning air-trapping microfilaments around a central fiber and requires fewer stabilizing seams and baffles than down.—
Kelly Bastone,
Outside,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The text messages contained jokes about gas chambers, slavery, and rape.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
23 Mar. 2026
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The arm measurement spawned numerous online jokes, comparing Bain’s arms to those of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a dinosaur with short arms.—
Adam Lichtenstein,
Sun Sentinel,
23 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Travesties.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/travesties. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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