travesty
Americannoun
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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.
Synonym Usage
See burlesque.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
travestysimple
-
travestiessimple
-
have travestiedperfect
-
has travestiedperfect
-
am travestyingprogressive
-
are travestyingprogressive
-
is travestyingprogressive
-
have been travestyingperfect progressive
-
has been travestyingperfect progressive
Past
-
travestiedsimple
-
had travestiedperfect
-
was travestyingprogressive
-
were travestyingprogressive
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had been travestyingperfect progressive
Future
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; see vest
Explanation
A travesty is a cheap mockery, usually of something or someone serious, such as a travesty of justice. In literature, a travesty is a work that humorously and crudely imitates another work or style. But you can also use this word to describe anything that seems to mock, distort, or poorly imitate something else. A travesty of justice, for example, is a court case that makes a mockery of the judicial system — or so you might think, if the verdict isn't in your favor. Travesty comes from the French travesti, meaning "dressed in disguise."
Vocabulary lists containing travesty
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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President Trump's Second State of the Union Address (2019)
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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:
To let the moment pass without taking action would be a travesty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
What are the latest updates on that travesty?
From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2025
This being the Dodgers first postseason meeting with Springer since that travesty, it would be a nice time to show him just how furious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2025
Singer Charlotte Church has described the media's treatment of her as a young woman as a "travesty".
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2025
They might well have been reacting to what they saw as a travesty of justice.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
However, we recorded Scott-Wright saying that back-sleeping advice was "one of the biggest travesties of modern-day parenting".
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Then—watch out—the parade of CEOs uber-bullish on their companies no matter what travesties have befallen them begins.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2024
But if they wanted to ditch him for anything, he had nine months of cataclysmic travesties behind him, any one of which could have brought about his downfall.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2023
“There are two travesties that are juxtaposed here,” Oliver said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 9, 2023
She’d heard of them but had never witnessed their travesties; the colored evening at the theater in South Carolina offered different fare.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
And yet, he has undoubtedly been travestied by a press who must somehow contrive to terrify Middle England with a man who looks as if he celebrates New Year’s Eve by edging the lawn.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 22, 2018
Readers may be tempted to side at one moment with the defenders of Jewish caution and Jewish sentiment, however their instincts are travestied, and soon afterward with Zuckerman’s principled view of the autonomy of art.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2018
Jay's great triumph is neither to elevate Matthews into a travestied hero, nor to confirm him simply as Patient Zero of modern psychiatry.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 9, 2012
The cultural detritus piled up everywhere, to be recycled, cherished, mocked and travestied, provides small — but nonetheless real — compensation for the spiritual deficits of modern life.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2010
He was arrayed in what the police reports in the newspapers call "the height of fashion,"—that is to say, he had travestied the style of the most daring dandies of last year.
From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851 by Various
Yet I labor day by day travestying it, caricaturing the beautiful thoughts that come into my mind.
From Red Pottage by Cholmondeley, Mary
If these prescriptions are observed, he says, travestying a fine Lucretian line, the diner-out may draw near to and drink deep from the well-spring of a happy life.
From Horace by Tuckwell, William
It not only conveys the travestying idea, but also sufficiently conveys the original thought travestied.
From The Grotesque in Church Art by Wildridge, T. Tindall
The sight of him, so sitting, tragically travestying man, has been considered, and is considered, “educative” by multitudinous audiences.
From Michael, Brother of Jerry by London, Jack
Peyrade had the power of travestying everything, even his wit.
From Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Balzac, Honoré de
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.
