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 An artist was doing caricatures in the park. His performance in the film was a caricature of a hard-boiled detective. The interview made her into a caricature of a struggling artist. Verb The press caricatured him as clumsy and forgetful. caricatured the supervisor's distinctive walk
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Not one character in the film is a caricature, and that was important. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 15 June 2022 The man on the steps of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral was a caricature of every feminist’s worst nightmare: smug, jovial in his subjugation.Washington Post, 11 May 2022 Contrary to popular caricature, our defense industrial base is made up of producers both large and small.WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022 The racial caricature on the cover of that book of mugshots goes some way toward explaining all of the above. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 22 Aug. 2022 Rushdie would not allow himself to be reduced to the caricature that his enemies wanted to make of him. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2022 Later reports of lavish trips paid for by lobbyists and industrialists, to exclusive hunting clubs and MGM’s five-diamond Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, could not dislodge the caricature of the one-time trapper, gold miner and Bush village teacher. Tom Kizzia, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Mar. 2022 The dismissive caricature of the lazy federal employees irritates Graham. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 10 Feb. 2022 The normally strong actress Jasna Žalica, the helmer’s wife, never gets the chance to rise above caricature here. Alissa Simon, Variety, 19 Aug. 2022
Verb
As a comedic performer unafraid to caricature herself, Brice laid the groundwork for generations of women who did not fit the traditional mold of demure, leggy female performers. Chloe Malle, Vogue, 5 Apr. 2022 One explanation for her success is Ms. Wu herself, who is difficult to caricature as a radical. Ellen Barry, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2021 Although the contempt Clark and Tripp faced just a few years apart was not identical, Paulson has come to think of the performances as bookends, both about women reduced to caricature by an unrelenting media circus.Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2021 But already, many national Democrats appear eager to elevate the former New York police captain, as gun violence shatters parts of major American cities and Republicans seek to caricature their opponents as naïve about crime.New York Times, 26 July 2021 However his story can no longer be reduced to caricature – and his legacy might just help check our present-day incineration of democracy. Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 17 June 2021 People have been using Viola’s AR app, which gives you the option of making a 3D cartoon, Renaissance painting, 2D cartoon or caricature from your photo. Charlie Fink, Forbes, 17 June 2021 That gave Democrats an opening to caricature them as pawns of the president and a party establishment that was using them.NBC news, 6 Jan. 2021 Though Trump attempted to caricature Harris during the campaign as a leftist who would dominate Biden and turn the country into a socialist republic, she is hardly viewed within the party as a movement progressive. Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2020 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Italian caricatura, literally, act of loading, from caricare to load, from Late Latin carricare