trav·es·ty

[trav-uh-stee] noun, plural trav·es·ties, verb, trav·es·tied, trav·es·ty·ing.
noun
1.
a literary or artistic burlesque of a serious work or subject, characterized by grotesque or ludicrous incongruity of style, treatment, or subject matter.
2.
a literary or artistic composition so inferior in quality as to be merely a grotesque imitation of its model.
3.
any grotesque or debased likeness or imitation: a travesty of justice.
verb (used with object)
4.
to make a travesty on; turn (a serious work or subject) to ridicule by burlesquing.
5.
to imitate grotesquely or absurdly.
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to spend time idly; loaf.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
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Origin:
1655–65; < French travesti, past participle of travestir to disguise < Italian travestire, equivalent to tra- (< Latin trāns- trans-) + vestire to clothe < Latin vestīre; see vest

Related forms
un·trav·es·tied, adjective

Synonyms
1. See burlesque. 3. mockery, perversion, sham, distortion.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
travesty (ˈtrævɪstɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n , pl -ties
1.  a farcical or grotesque imitation; mockery; parody
 
—vb , -ties, -ties, -tying, -tied
2.  (tr) to make or be a travesty of
 
[C17: from French travesti disguised, from travestir to disguise, from Italian travestire, from tra-trans- + vestire to clothe]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

travesty
1674, from adj. meaning "dressed so as to be made ridiculous, parodied, burlesqued" (c.1662), from Fr. travesti "dressed in disguise," pp. of travestir "to disguise" (1592), from It. travestire "to disguise," from L. trans- "over" + vestire "to clothe" (see wear).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

travesty

in literature, the treatment of a noble and dignified subject in an inappropriately trivial manner. Travesty is a crude form of burlesque in which the original subject matter is changed little but is transformed into something ridiculous through incongruous language and style. An early example of travesty is the humorous treatment of the Pyramus and Thisbe legend in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-96). After 1660, travesty became a popular literary device in England as seen in John Phillips's Don Quixote (1687), a vulgar mockery of the original work, and Charles Cotton's travesty of Virgil, Scarronides: or, Virgile Travestie. Being the First Book of Virgil's Aeneis in English, Burlesque (1664), an imitation of the French Virgile travesty (1648-53) by Paul Scarron. (The use of the word travesty-literally, "dressed in disguise"-in the title of Scarron's work gave rise to the English word, first as an adjective.) Later the French developed the feeries folies, a musical burlesque that travestied fairy tales.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
We would consider it a travesty to hold a trial in a football stadium with
  hundreds of thousands of spectators.
What a travesty of misplaced priorities this would be.
But it's a travesty that so many are coming home to an unemployment check.
What we've done in quality with boards historically has been a travesty.
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