travesty

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
14
Words With Friends
14
Letters
8
Pronunciation
/ˈtɹæv.ɪs.ti/
See all 2 pronunciations
/ˈtɹæv.ɪs.ti/ · /ˈtɹæv.əs.ti/

Definition of travesty

4 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. An absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation.
    “A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.”
    “The second edition is not a recast, but absolutely a travesty of the first.”
    “In 1844, objection was raised to the Furness Railway's Dalton & Barrow line, when it was revealed that the line would pass directly through Furness Abbey. A re-route was achieved, with the line skirting the abbey ruins instead - although many continued to see the intrusion as a travesty against antiquity and the scenic beauty of the site.”
See all 4 definitions

noun

  1. An absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation.
    “A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.”
    “The second edition is not a recast, but absolutely a travesty of the first.”
    “In 1844, objection was raised to the Furness Railway's Dalton & Barrow line, when it was revealed that the line would pass directly through Furness Abbey. A re-route was achieved, with the line skirting the abbey ruins instead - although many continued to see the intrusion as a travesty against antiquity and the scenic beauty of the site.”
  2. A pastiche, parody, or stylistic imitation; a burlesque literary or artistic imitation (typically of a more serious work).
  3. (proscribed, sometimes)An appalling event, situation or outcome (especially in relation to another outcome to which it is grossly inferior).
    “Spurs survived the scare - and such was their domination after the break that it would have been a travesty had Arsenal escaped Wembley, hosting a Premier League record attendance of 83,222, with a draw.”

verb

  1. (transitive)To make a travesty of; to parody.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From French travesti (“disguised, burlesqued”), past participle of travestir (“to disguise”), borrowed from Italian travestire (“to dress up, disguise”), from tra- (“across”) + vestire (“to dress”), from Latin vestiō (“to clothe, dress”), from Proto-Italic *westis (“clothing”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéstis (“dressing”) from verbal root *wes- (“to dress, clothe”); cognate to English wear. Doublet of travesti.

Words you can make from travesty

200+ playable · top: VESTRY (12 pts)

Best play vestry 12 points

7-letter words

1 word

6-letter words

15 words

5-letter words

48 words

4-letter words

75 words

3-letter words

51 words

2-letter words

9 words

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