travesty
/ˈtɹæv.ɪs.ti/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pastiche, parody, or stylistic imitation; a burlesque literary or artistic imitation (typically of a more serious work).
noun
An appalling event, situation or outcome (especially in relation to another outcome to which it is grossly inferior).
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
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.
Origin
- Source language: French