travesties 1 of 2

noun

plural of travesty
1
as in parodies
a poor, insincere, or insulting imitation of something rigged from the start, his trial was a travesty of justice

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spoofs
a work that imitates and exaggerates another work for comic effect the big-screen version of the classic sitcom is actually a good-natured travesty of the TV series

Synonyms & Similar Words

travesties

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of travesty
as in mocks
to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of this comedy sketch mindlessly travesties the hard work of relief workers around the world

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of travesties
Noun
By the season’s end, in fact, more than a few travesties are laid at Peter’s feet. — Hunter Ingram, Variety, 8 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for travesties
  1. parodies
  2. spoofs
  3. mocks
  4. caricatures
  5. imitates
  6. jokes
Noun
  • The five stars teased the project with parodies of their characters in a promo video.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The name of the collection parodies the seriousness of the museum, even as the collection itself is the kind of thing that has traditionally gotten scant attention within actual institutions.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of parodies
Noun
  • The film draws on 1980s supernatural comedies, including Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and The Addams Family, alongside classic monster movies and horror spoofs.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Blanchett cofounded the nonprofit Human Consent Foundation to help people register how AI models can — or cannot — scrape their likenesses in an effort to combat such spoofs.
    — Corbin Bolies, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of spoofs
Verb
  • We are presented with a few potentially hissable villains, including an attorney for the state (Christian Rubeck) who mocks the Gheorghius’ faith and a frostily inflexible social worker, Gunda (Ellen Dorrit Petersen).
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is designed as an action flick as well as a portrait of a family dealing with tragedy and an insider’s look at an insular community that mocks harmful stereotypes without perpetrating them.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of mocks
Noun
  • As is the case with most election cycles, the claims and counterclaims about the ballot measures being voted on in California this time around are largely based on caricatures of the measures themselves.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • But Iñárritu’s caricatures become people in a way Kubrick’s don’t; as the bewildered President, for example, John Goodman is simultaneously grounded and theatrical in his presentation, recalling his best work with the Coen brothers.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of caricatures
Verb
  • Constantin Brâncuși’s marble-and-limestone sculpture L’oiseau (1923/1947), for example, commands the space, while Wolfgang Tillmans’s 2022 photograph tree filling window imitates an open window in a closed space.
    — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Over the weekend, movie-theater chain AMC Entertainment accused Robinhood of creating an unauthorized market that imitates trading in AMC shares through its overseas platform without the company’s approval.
    — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of imitates
Noun
  • The story made public an incident that had apparently given rise to jokes and gossip at the Pentagon.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Those thick locks that inspired so many jealous jokes among your friends and their balding husbands.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of jokes

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Cite this Entry

“Travesties.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/travesties. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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