travesty
Americannoun
plural
travesties-
a grotesque or debased likeness or imitation.
a travesty of justice.
- Synonyms:
- distortion, sham, perversion, mockery
-
a literary or artistic burlesque of a serious work or subject, characterized by grotesque or ludicrous incongruity of style, treatment, or subject matter.
-
a literary or artistic composition so inferior in quality as to be merely a grotesque imitation of its model.
verb (used with object)
-
to make a travesty on; turn (a serious work or subject) to ridicule by burlesquing.
-
to imitate grotesquely or absurdly.
noun
verb
Usage
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.
Related Words
See burlesque.
Other Word Forms
- untravestied adjective
Etymology
Origin of travesty
1655–65; < French travesti, past participle of travestir “to disguise” < Italian travestire, equivalent to tra- (< Latin trāns- trans- ) + vestire “to clothe” < Latin vestīre; vest
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.
To let the moment pass without taking action would be a travesty.
It was indeed a travesty that the two-loss Irish, winners of their last 10 games by double digits, did not get a spot in the national tournament.
From Los Angeles Times
Let’s put the nicest interpretation on that earlier travesty.
She added: "It is a travesty that a woman can be judged as having expressed herself in the wrong way when she objects to finding a man in the women's changing room."
From BBC
Its assertion that “studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism” is a travesty of the scientific method.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
