Definition of TRAVESTY

travesty

Plural: travesties

Noun

  • a comedy characterized by broad satire and improbable situations
  • a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way
  • An absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation.
  • A pastiche, parody, or stylistic imitation; a burlesque literary or artistic imitation (typically of a more serious work).
  • An appalling event, situation or outcome (especially in relation to another outcome to which it is grossly inferior).

Verb

Verb Forms: travestied, travestying, travesties

  • To represent in a false or distorted way; to parody.
  • make a travesty of
  • To make a travesty of; to parody.

Examples

  • A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.
  • His last play was a TRAVESTY of good strategy, giving his opponent an easy win.

Origin / Etymology

From French travesti (“disguised, burlesqued”), past participle of travestir (“to disguise”), borrowed from Italian travestire (“to dress up, disguise”), from tra- (“across”) + vestire (“to dress”), from Latin vestiō (“to clothe, dress”), from Proto-Italic *westis (“clothing”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéstis (“dressing”) from verbal root *wes- (“to dress, clothe”); cognate to English wear. Doublet of travesti.

Antonyms

veracity

Scrabble Score: 14

travesty: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
travesty: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
travesty: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

travesty: valid Words With Friends Word