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 He has a talent for writing parodies. a writer with a talent for parodyVerb It was easy to parody the book's fancy language. She parodied her brother's poetry.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The comments were a mix of excitement from those who took it seriously and jokes from those who seemed to consider the post parody. Bahar Anooshahr, The Arizona Republic, 10 Sep. 2022 The actress portrays the legendary singer in Titanique, a laugh-out-loud musical parody of the 1997 Oscar-winning blockbuster Titanic that sees Dion interjecting herself into the film's tragic love story to hilarious results. Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 6 Sep. 2022 The parody came just two days after Swift unexpectedly announced during her video of the year acceptance speech at this year’s VMAs that her 10th studio album would be arriving Oct. 21. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 31 Aug. 2022 Below, the Pod Meets World co-hosts revisit the iconic slasher parody episode for a mini oral history. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 31 Aug. 2022 This parody of the Arthurian legend of seeking the Holy Grail is one of the funniest movies of all time—and holds up really well. Adrianna Freedman, Men's Health, 30 Aug. 2022 Daniel Radcliffe, wig and all, explains the origin of his popular song parody and polka career in the official trailer for the upcoming biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Aug. 2022 The split into two brackets definitely brings more parody to the playoffs.oregonlive, 20 Aug. 2022 Lyrics must not mention a competitor and the song cannot be a remake, parody or anything other than an original rendition. Michelle Deal-zimmerman, Baltimore Sun, 19 Aug. 2022
Verb
Evan Rachel Wood appears as Madonna, who begins an affair with Yankovic in hopes of convincing him to parody one of her songs. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2022 The third thing is that the Western, of all film genres, is the most easy to parody. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2022 The film is made to parody 1950’s celebrity and political culture as well as give a quirky perspective on the era’s famous personas. Swarna Gowtham, Town & Country, 28 June 2022 More recently, he's begun posting TikTok videos that lovingly parody common movie and TV tropes.USA Today, 22 Mar. 2022 Rifkin’s Festival is a comic retrospective about a film professor (played by Wallace Shawn) who, in his pathetic senior years, sees his life in terms of old films — flashbacks and fantasies that parody the classic canon. Armond White, National Review, 4 Feb. 2022 Both the costumes and the photos actually parody the sort of images Westerners once made of Middle Eastern women.Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2021 However, the memo was meant to parody legislation in the U.S. restricting women's reproductive rights, and Rabb told USA TODAY his bill was never intended to pass. Mckenzie Sadeghi, USA TODAY, 2 Oct. 2021 To poke a hole in Instagram’s artificial veneer, Kite suggests encouraging your teen to follow people who parody social media’s toxic culture, such as comedic critics like @hicaitlinreilly.Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Latin parodia, from Greek parōidia, from para- + aidein to sing — more at ode