travesty

[trav-uh-stee]

noun

plural

travesties 

1. a grotesque or debased likeness or imitation.

   a travesty of justice.

   Synonyms: distortion, sham, perversion, mockery

2. a literary or artistic burlesque of a serious work or subject, characterized by grotesque or ludicrous incongruity of style, treatment, or subject matter.

3. a literary or artistic composition so inferior in quality as to be merely a grotesque imitation of its model.

verb (used with object)

travestied, travestying 

1. to make a travesty on; turn (a serious work or subject) to ridicule by burlesquing.

2. to imitate grotesquely or absurdly.

travesty

/ ˈtrævɪstɪ /

noun

1. a farcical or grotesque imitation; mockery; parody

verb

1. (tr) to make or be a travesty of

Other Word Forms

• untravestied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of travesty¹

1655–65; < French travesti, past participle of travestir “to disguise” < Italian travestire, equivalent to tra- (< Latin trāns- trans- ) + vestire “to clothe” < Latin vestīre; vest

Word History and Origins

Origin of travesty¹

C17: from French travesti disguised, from travestir to disguise, from Italian travestire , from tra- _trans- + vestire to clothe

Synonym Study

See burlesque.

Example Sentences

Singer Charlotte Church has described the media's treatment of her as a young woman as a "travesty".

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A spokesman for Mr Barrowman described it as "a travesty of justice".

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A spokesman for Mr Barrowman described the High Court judgement as "a travesty of justice".

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A spokesperson for Mr Barrowman described the ruling as "a travesty of justice".

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Democrats may not win in the end, but the 263 million people in America who didn’t vote for this travesty deserve to have someone in Washington, D.C., fighting for them.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• burlesque 
• distortion 
• exaggeration 
• farce 
• mockery 
• perversion 
• satire 
• sham 

When To Use

What does travesty mean?

A travesty is something that imitates something else but in a gross or ridiculous manner.A travesty is also a literary or other artistic work that is a grotesque example of the art form it models.To travesty means to imitate absurdly or to parody a serious artwork.Example: The movie was an absolute travesty of the events that actually took place.