- caricature
- caricature n Caricature, burlesque, parody, travesty are comparable as nouns meaning a grotesque or bizarre imitation of something and as verbs meaning to make such an imitation.Caricature implies ludicrous exaggeration or distortion (often pictorial) of characteristic or peculiar features (as of a person, a group, or a people) for the sake of satire or ridicule{
cartoonists who caricature prominent politicians
}{that propensity to caricature which tempts clever writers ... to transform into objects of derision the venerated Great— L. P. Smith
}{his portrait of Addison, for example . . . depends upon ... the apparent determination not to exaggerate. The genius of Pope is not for caricature— T. S. Eliot
}Burlesque implies mimicry (especially of words or actions in the theater) that arouses laughter. The term usually also suggests distortion (as by treating a trifling subject in mock-heroic vein or by giving to a serious subject a frivolous or laughable turn) for the sake of the comic effect{in Don Quixote Cervantes burlesques the old romances of chivalry
}{burlesque is ... of two kinds; the first represents mean persons in the accouterments of heroes; the other describes great persons acting and speaking like the basest among the people— Spectator
}Parody basically denotes a writing in which the language and style of an author or work are closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule{parody may be regarded as an unique combination of both creative and cognitive criticism. At its best, it is creative because it is genuine self-expression through imitation of another's self-expression. It debunks aesthetic illusion by means of a mock-aesthetic illusion of its own— J. L. Davis
}Parody, like caricature, may involve exaggeration or, like burlesque, distortion but ordinarily is more subtle and sustained than the first and quieter and less boisterous than the second{burlesque or parody may be aimed at the most august object, but surely it must imply an understanding of that object— Bentley
}{one of the richest sources of their humor lies in their ability to parody the most solemn efforts of radio and television as these media attempt the dramatic slush known as soap operas— G. S. Perry
}In extended use parody may apply, often with more than a hint of bitterness or disgust, to a feeble or inappropriate imitation{his art had become parody, his body a gutted edifice—there was nothing left but to drink in the company of friends and to hope to die with dignity— Rogow
}or to a poor inadequate substitute{subsidized football results in some queer parodies of education— Eaton
}{the mechanically produced parodies of period designs hitherto offered by the furniture trade— Gloag
}Travesty is usually a harsher word than others of this group; it implies a palpably extravagant and often debased or grotesque imitation and more often and more intensely than parody suggests repulsion{it should never be the object of a satirist to make a travesty of a genuine work of art— Kitche 11
}{racist explanations of the fall of Rome are a travesty of the facts— Benedict
}{later examples of the Greek revival travestied the classic style rather than copied it— Amer. Guide Series: Mass.
}Analogous words: satire, humor, sarcasm (see WIT): grotesqueness, fantasticality, bizarreness (see corresponding adjectives at FANTASTIC): lampoon, *libel, skit, squib, pasquinadecaricature vb burlesque, parody, travesty (see under CARICATURE n)
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
