The noun travesty, which current evidence dates to the 17th century, comes from the French verb travestir, meaning "to disguise." The word's roots, however, wind back through Italian to the Latin verb vestire, meaning "to clothe" or "to dress." Travesty is not the only English descendent of vestire. Others include vestment, divest, and investiture. Travesty, incidentally, can also be a verb meaning "to make a travesty of" or "to parody."
caricature implies ludicrous exaggeration of the characteristic features of a subject.
caricatures of politicians in cartoons
burlesque implies mockery especially through giving a serious or lofty subject a frivolous treatment.
a nightclub burlesque of a trial in court
parody applies especially to treatment of a trivial or ludicrous subject in the exactly imitated style of a well-known author or work.
a witty parody of a popular novel
travesty implies that the subject remains unchanged but that the style is extravagant or absurd.
this production is a travesty of the opera
Example Sentences
Noun It is a travesty and a tragedy that so many people would be denied the right to vote. The trial was a travesty of justice. Verb this comedy sketch mindlessly travesties the hard work of relief workers around the world
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Ah, but therein lies the beauty — or for some people, the travesty — of the third wild-card team. Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Aug. 2022 All of which, to those who sensed the explosive charge of the earlier Elvis, is a travesty, a tragedy, and a kind of creative death. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 24 June 2022 The first elements, by international artists such as Marina Abramović, were a travesty of narcissistic kitsch. George Packer, The Atlantic, 6 Sep. 2022 But the presidency is the one office for which the entire country votes, and for it to be captured by a progressive fringe is a travesty. The Editors, National Review, 25 Aug. 2022 Director Stephen Frears staged this biopic, alternating tragedy and travesty. Armond White, National Review, 6 July 2022 However many books and movies take it as their subject, a historical travesty on the incomprehensible scale of the Holocaust must always contain within it an uncountable number of untold stories. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 July 2022 What a travesty that this British show only got one season. Sara Netzley, EW.com, 27 June 2022 All these issues are putting fireflies at risk, and to lose a family of insects that have been around for 100 million years would be a travesty, experts said. Sarah Bowman, USA TODAY, 2 July 2022
Verb
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. Cynthia Ozick, WSJ, 25 May 2018 Are miracle and faith being slyly travestied, or is this just another example of the going secular self-help usage? Elaine Blair, New York Times, 18 May 2018 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
obsolete English travesty disguised, parodied, from French travesti, past participle of travestir to disguise, from Italian travestire, from tra- across (from Latin trans-) + vestire to dress, from Latin — more at vest entry 2