burlesque.

1. A literary or dramatic work that ridicules its subject through exaggerated imitation or grotesque incongruity.

2. Theatrical variety entertainment featuring broad humor, comic sketches, and sometimes striptease performances.

3. To imitate something with exaggeration or comic distortion in order to ridicule it.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a burlesque of an epic
• literary burlesque
• comic burlesque

On the page

The play is a burlesque of heroic adventure, complete with a hero afraid of stairs.

The poem uses burlesque to puncture the speaker's grand claims.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated prose. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Noun singular burlesque; plural burlesques. Mass use where indicated by sense. Verb: burlesque; burlesques; burlesqued; burlesqued; burlesquing. Commonness: moderately common (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Direct dictionary reading: literary/dramatic work ridiculing by grotesque exaggeration/comic imitation; mockery/caricature; theatrical entertainment with broad earthy humor, skits and sometimes striptease; adjective and verb also recorded. Three noun/verb scopes retained; further mockery-mode/adjective coverage flagged. Individual usefulness checked for a precise literary, narrative, dialogue or critical function. Definitions and examples are original; commonness is an editorial estimate. Mood and intensity apply only to inherent qualities of the specific sense. Writing functions: ridicule through exaggerated imitation, distinguishing literary mode from entertainment genre. Third-person singular: burlesques.