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
Watters wanted to compress El-Sayed into a caricature, a radical leftist Muslim candidate who could be made alien and threatening to the people watching at home.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Forget the tired caricature of Europe as a low-growth value trap,” said strategists led by Gerry Fowler.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
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
I screamed at the largest male, who stood his ground on the outer perimeter of the awning, stomping his boundary on surprisingly muscular front legs like some kind of caricature of an old bulldog.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
When Rosales writes about cholos, she disrupts caricatures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
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 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
Neanderthals are often depicted in caricatures as the archetypical brutish and stupid ‘cave people’, but recent evidence has changed their image.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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
Shock horror in a political campaign, you'll be amazed that the two women have both been caricatured.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
It was refashioned as a sort of tour of Hollywood with heavily caricatured figurines of the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Regis Philbin, Drew Carey, Cher and more, but would close within a year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2025
The way American newspapers caricatured his portly build and bald head, portraying him like some stubby supervillain sprung from the pages of one of their ludicrous comic books.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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
They’re dressed in drag — even mustaches — caricaturing their male detractors.
From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2022
Davies, the Newsday cartoonist, has enjoyed caricaturing Mike Bloomberg for years.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2020
Busby, De Joncy, Lindaberry amused themselves hugely, caricaturing the eccentricities of the dance, their arms about their partners, clinging, bacchanalian, in their movements.
From The Salamander by Owen Johnson
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