caricature
Americannoun
-
caricatures
plural
-
a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things.
His caricature of the mayor in this morning's paper is the best he's ever drawn.
- Synonyms:
- cartoon
-
the art or process of producing such pictures, descriptions, etc.
-
any imitation or copy so distorted or inferior as to be ludicrous.
- Synonyms:
- travesty
verb (used with object)
-
caricatures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
caricatured,
past participle, past
-
caricaturing
present participle
noun
-
a pictorial, written, or acted representation of a person, which exaggerates his characteristic traits for comic effect
-
a ludicrously inadequate or inaccurate imitation
he is a caricature of a statesman
verb
Synonym Usage
See burlesque.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
caricaturistnoun
-
self-caricaturenoun
-
caricaturableadjective
-
caricaturaladjective
-
semicaricaturaladjective
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uncaricaturedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
caricaturesimple
-
caricaturessimple
-
have caricaturedperfect
-
has caricaturedperfect
-
am caricaturingprogressive
-
are caricaturingprogressive
-
is caricaturingprogressive
-
have been caricaturingperfect progressive
-
has been caricaturingperfect progressive
Past
-
caricaturedsimple
-
had caricaturedperfect
-
was caricaturingprogressive
-
were caricaturingprogressive
-
had been caricaturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of caricature
1740–50; earlier caricatura < Italian, equivalent to caricat(o) loaded, i.e., distorted (past participle of caricare; see charge) + -ura -ure
Explanation
A caricature is a satirical, exaggerated portrayal of a person. You'd better not caricature your father by walking bent-over and speaking in his high voice. If he catches you, you'll be in trouble! An exaggeration of a person's character results in a caricature. While this might help you to remember its meaning, don't let the spelling confuse you. Character has an "h" but caricature does not. If you're so excited about something that you feel a little out of control, you might seem like a caricature of yourself to your friends. You can use this word as a verb too. Presidents and other prominent politicians are often caricatured in political cartoons.
Vocabulary lists containing caricature
Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Introductory
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He has less patience for commentators who seek to debunk originalism by measuring its practitioners against a caricature of the method.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Like all of those after-school specials, there’s a distinct element of gratitude that helps the film transcend accusations of corniness or caricature.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
He said the pair had an "agreeable" conversation, adding he did not agree with Vance's "caricature" of Western civilisation and its perceived decline.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
In each of those shows, Pfeiffer gives new meaning to a figure that historically has been a narrowly defined, often to the point of caricature, member of the supporting cast: The grandmother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
This is shown in caricature in the conflict between the Law of Induction and the Law of Averages.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Their testimonials on our website demonstrate that they are real, complex human beings, not caricatures.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
There’s a tension between the update’s good intentions and the tendency of musical comedy to traffic in amusing caricatures.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
There’s still plenty of eye rolling in China at caricatures of the U.S. presented by the propaganda apparatus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
Brahim Chnina, the Moroccan father of a schoolgirl who falsely claimed that Paty had asked Muslim students to leave his classroom before showing the caricatures, was sentenced to 13 years.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
My speech that night gave me a chance to humanize myself, explaining who I was in my own voice, slaying the caricatures and stereotypes with my own words.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
They are caricatured as tourists, or cowboys, or worse—Ted Lasso.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
"Magyar will want, as he did during the campaign, not to be caricatured as being a pawn of Brussels; do not expect him to say yes to everything," said an EU diplomat.
From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026
Hegseth’s bravado has also been caricatured on “Saturday Night Live,” which opened two weeks in a row with a satirical portrayal of him as angry, dimwitted and hyped up on the violence of war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026
During Newby’s tenure as chief justice, a cartoon has hung in the Supreme Court depicting him as Superman, surrounded by a coterie of conservative appellate justices caricatured as other members of DC Comics’ Justice League.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
He would mumble sotto voce, pausing now and then to emit a murmur that students caricatured as “nim-nim-nim.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
By 2017, Saturday Night Live was caricaturing Ms Trump in a mock advertisement for a perfume called "Complicit."
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2023
Surratt, neither caricaturing nor condescending to Lot, is astonishing.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2022
“But I promise you that dismissing or caricaturing these kinds of voters — our fellow citizens — is not the way to win them back. And there’s no path to victory without winning them back.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
The picture trivializes Joseph Beuys, caricaturing the best known of the European Fluxus artists just around the time of Fluxus’ beginning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2019
The authors of the 'Rejected Addresses' had simply to copy, without attempting the impossible task of caricaturing.
From Hours in a Library New Edition, with Additions. Vol. II (of 3) by Sir Leslie Stephen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
