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
-
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:
A candidate who talks about food and gas prices and community is difficult to caricature as a threat.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026
Unsmiling, rigid, angry and barking like a drill sergeant, Mr. Strong lets caricature guide his performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Pattinson portrays Hansen as a caricature of himself, accentuating the journalist’s unmistakable vocal cadence to remove any distance between “To Catch a Predator” and the man behind the show.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
“Forget the tired caricature of Europe as a low-growth value trap,” said strategists led by Gerry Fowler.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 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
Skrepetsky was known for his caricatures of Vladimir Putin and other prominent Russians, many of them Kremlin-linked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
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
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
The dismissive attitude toward “flyover country,” perfectly caricatured in Saul Steinberg’s famous 1976 New Yorker cover in which the map of America is reduced to Manhattan and the West Coast, is personal to him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
All of the king’s men were experienced soldiers; none were fools or the moronic redcoats so often caricatured in American mythology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 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
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
The story was caricatured as ‘coarse, primitive and vulgar’.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Instead of caricaturing how firms set prices, the commission should grapple with how the practice actually works.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
By 2017, Saturday Night Live was caricaturing Ms Trump in a mock advertisement for a perfume called "Complicit."
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2023
Forster and George Orwell set stories in British India while caricaturing South Asians or casting them in supporting roles.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 3, 2023
They’re dressed in drag — even mustaches — caricaturing their male detractors.
From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2022
She would agree with him in his attacks upon others, second his vicious caricaturing and appear always impressed by his desperate skepticism.
From Gargoyles by Ben Hecht
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
