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travesty

  (trăv'ĭ-stē) pronunciation
n., pl. -ties.
  1. An exaggerated or grotesque imitation, such as a parody of a literary work.
  2. A debased or grotesque likeness: a travesty of justice. See synonyms at caricature.
tr.v., -tied, -ty·ing, -ties.

To make a travesty of; parody or ridicule.

[From obsolete, disguised, burlesqued, from French travesti, past participle of travestir, to disguise, parody, from Italian travestire : Latin trāns-, trans- + Latin vestīre, to dress (from vestis, garment).]


 
 
Thesaurus: travesty

noun

    A false, derisive, or impudent imitation of something: burlesque, caricature, farce, mock, mockery, parody, sham. See respect/contempt/standing, same/different/compare.

verb

    To copy (the manner or expression of another), especially in an exaggerated or mocking way: ape, burlesque, caricature, imitate, mimic, mock, parody. Idioms: do a takeoff on. See same/different/compare.

 
Antonyms: travesty

n

Definition: spoof, ridicule
Antonyms: seriousness, solemnity

v

Definition: ridicule, spoof
Antonyms: be serious


 

travesty, a mockingly undignified or trivializing treatment of a dignified subject, usually as a kind of parody. Travesty may be distinguished from the mock epic and other kinds of burlesque in that it treats a solemn subject frivolously, while they treat frivolous subjects with mock solemnity. Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605) is a travesty of chivalric romances, and James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) is partly a travesty of Homer's Odyssey.

Verb: travesty.

 
Word Tutor: travesty
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: A composition that imitates somebody's style with humour and satire.

pronunciation Many citizens felt that the court case was a travesty of justice.

 
Wikipedia: travesty

A travesty, also known as a Burlesque prior to Burlesque Theatre becoming associated with striptease, is a form of musical parody in which a piece is re-arranged into a style very different from that for which it was originally known. This usually takes the form of a serious work (e.g. opera) being presented in a more populist style such as ragtime.

Travesty originated in the 1840s, early in the Victorian Era, when the social rules of established aristocracy and working-class society clashed. The genre often mocked such established entertainment forms as opera, musicals, and ballet.

In the 19th century, composer Meyer Lutz produced a number of operatic travesties. In these the scores were rearranged to so that operatic arias would be turned into, for example, a barn dance.

Well known ragtime travesties include The Russian Rag, by George L. Cobb, which is based on Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, and Felix Arndt's Lucy's Sextette based on a sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.

In more recent times, the score for the film The Cool Mikado is a travesty on the original Gilbert and Sullivan music.

Etymology of the word travesty

The term travesty dates from the 17th century and combines the Latin words trans-, meaning "across, over" and vestere, "to dress or to wear". These two Latin words also form the etymology of the 20th-century term transvestism. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word travesty originally meant "to disguise by changing costume", then "to dress ridiculously", but soon came to mean "a parody or burlesque", as in the theatrical productions discussed here, and finally added to that its modern meaning of "disgraceful imitation".


 
Translations: Translations for: Travesty

Dansk (Danish)
n. - traverser, kariker, parodier
v. tr. - traversere karikere, parodiere

Nederlands (Dutch)
travestie, karikatuur, verkleding

Français (French)
n. - (Art, Littérat) farce, travestissement, parodie
v. tr. - travestir (tous contextes)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Travestie, Karrikatur
v. - travestieren, verzerren

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - παρωδία, διακωμώδηση
v. - παρωδώ, διακωμωδώ

Italiano (Italian)
parodia, parodiare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - caricatura (f), imitação grotesca (f)
v. - caricaturar, parodiar

Русский (Russian)
шарж, пародия, (театр.) травести, пародировать, искажать

Español (Spanish)
n. - parodia, farsa, disfraz
v. tr. - parodiar, disfrazar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - travesti
v. - travestera

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
滑稽的作品, 滑稽模仿, 漫画, 滑稽地模仿, 拙劣的模仿, 歪曲

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 滑稽的作品, 滑稽模仿, 漫畫
v. tr. - 滑稽地模仿, 拙劣的模仿, 歪曲

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 희화화
v. tr. - 희화화하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - こっけい化する
n. - こっけい化したもの

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) محاكاة مضحكه, تقليد ساخر (فعل) يقلد على نحو مضحك أو ساخر‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חיקוי נלעג, פרודיה, סילוף, קריקטורה‬
v. tr. - ‮שם ללעג, חיקה‬


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2008 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Travesty" Read more
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