burlesque means parodical; parodic.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, burlesque ranks #2,309 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,319 of 14,444 for Most Exacting Words, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,374 of 14,451 for Most Whimsical Words.
burlesque is pronounced /bə(ɹ)ˈlɛsk/.
Why “burlesque” is a great word
A derisive art form or literary work that mocks a serious subject through ludicrous or grotesque imitation; also, a variety show featuring striptease and other titillating entertainment. From French burlesque, from Italian burlesco (“parodic”), from burla (“joke, mockery”), first attested in English in the mid-17th century. Unlike parody, which adheres with scholastic precision to the contours of a specific target, or travesty, which mourns a noble idea debased, burlesque revels in the sheer, joyful incongruity of the imitation. It is the politician’s speech delivered in corsets and rouge, the Shakespearean tragedy performed by actors on unicycles, the slow, teasing peel of a glove that reveals nothing so much as the artifice of revelation itself—a foundational human impulse to dress the solemn in motley and crown the sacred with a whoopee cushion.
Etymology
Borrowed from French burlesque, from Italian burlesco (“parodic”).
adj
- Parodical; parodic“It is a dispute among the critics, whether burlesque poetry runs best in heroic verse, like that of the Dispensary, or in doggerel, like that of Hudibras.”
noun
- A derisive art form that mocks by imitation; a parody.“Burlesque is therefore of two kinds; the first represents mean persons in the accoutrements of heroes, the other describes great persons acting and speaking like the basest among the people.”
- A variety adult entertainment show, usually including titillation such as striptease, most common from the 1880s to the 1930s.
- A ludicrous imitation; a caricature; a travesty; a gross perversion.“Who is it that admires, and from the heart is attached to, national representative assemblies, but must turn with horror and disgust from such a profane burlesque and abominable perversion of that sacred institute?”
verb
- To make a burlesque parody of.“When the venerable New York Times took my quote in which I described the neon elements as "burlesquing the myth of male dominance" and instead printed "he prefers to describe them as . . . symbols of male dominance" it became clear that dealing with journalists was going to be one long, rocky road.”
- To ridicule, or to make ludicrous by grotesque representation in action or in language.“They burlesqued the prophet Jeremiah's words, and turned the expression he used into ridicule.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- travesty 86% match — An absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation. vs burlesque →
- travest 85% match — To travesty; to disguise; to parody; to demean. vs burlesque →
- ribaldry 84% match — Joking or humorous language or behaviour used in a vulgar or lewd fashion. vs burlesque →
- satire 84% match — A literary device of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change or highlighting a shortcoming in the work of another. Imitation, humor, irony, and exaggeration are often used to aid this. vs burlesque →
- farce 83% match — A style of humor marked by broad improbabilities with little regard to regularity or method. vs burlesque →
- ribald 83% match — Coarsely, vulgarly, or lewdly amusing; referring to sexual matters in a rude or irreverent way. vs burlesque →
- lampoon 82% match — A written attack or other work ridiculing a person, group, or institution; especially, a satirical one. vs burlesque →
- lascivity 82% match — lasciviousness vs burlesque →