burlesque
an artistic composition, especially literary or dramatic, that, for the sake of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material or treats ordinary material with mock dignity.
any ludicrous parody or grotesque caricature.
Also burlesk . a humorous and provocative stage show featuring slapstick humor, comic skits, bawdy songs, striptease acts, and a scantily clad female chorus.
involving ludicrous or mocking treatment of a solemn subject.
of, relating to, or like stage-show burlesque.
to make ridiculous by mocking representation.
to use caricature.
Origin of burlesque
1synonym study For burlesque
Other words for burlesque
Other words from burlesque
- bur·lesque·ly, adverb
- bur·lesqu·er, noun
- pre·bur·lesque, adjective
- un·bur·lesqued, adjective
Words that may be confused with burlesque
- burlesque , caricature, cartoon, parody, satire (see synonym study at the current entry)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use burlesque in a sentence
They burlesqued womanhood in a way that stirred always a smoldering resentment against them.
Cabin Fever | B. M. BowerIt is a very delightful letter, most of it, and probably not greatly burlesqued or exaggerated in its details.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineI burlesqued it broadly, very broadly, stringing my fantastics out to the extent of eight hundred or a thousand words.
Life On The Mississippi, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)Mr John Raikes, too, burlesqued Society so well, that he had the satisfaction of laughing at his enemy occasionally.
Evan Harrington, Complete | George MeredithHe burlesqued his own religion as the most earnest constantly do, for we all revolve around ourselves as well as our suns.
The Cup of Fury | Rupert Hughes
British Dictionary definitions for burlesque
/ (bɜːˈlɛsk) /
an artistic work, esp literary or dramatic, satirizing a subject by caricaturing it
a ludicrous imitation or caricature
a play of the 17th–19th centuries that parodied some contemporary dramatic fashion or event
Also: burlesk US and Canadian theatre a bawdy comedy show of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: the striptease eventually became one of its chief elements: Slang name: burleycue
of, relating to, or characteristic of a burlesque
to represent or imitate (a person or thing) in a ludicrous way; caricature
Origin of burlesque
1Derived forms of burlesque
- burlesquer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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