mock, imitate in a comic fashion
mockery, caricature, comic imitation; comic performance
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Burlesque Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
(v. t.)
To ridicule, or to make ludicrous by grotesque representation in action or in language.
To ridicule, or to make ludicrous by grotesque representation in action or in language.
(v. i.)
To employ burlesque.
To employ burlesque.
(n.)
Ludicrous representation; exaggerated parody; grotesque satire.
Ludicrous representation; exaggerated parody; grotesque satire.
(n.)
An ironical or satirical composition intended to excite laughter, or to ridicule anything.
An ironical or satirical composition intended to excite laughter, or to ridicule anything.
(n.)
A ludicrous imitation; a caricature; a travesty; a gross perversion.
A ludicrous imitation; a caricature; a travesty; a gross perversion.
(a.)
Tending to excite laughter or contempt by extravagant images, or by a contrast between the subject and the manner of treating it, as when a trifling subject is treated with mock gravity; jocular; ironical.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter. AboutTending to excite laughter or contempt by extravagant images, or by a contrast between the subject and the manner of treating it, as when a trifling subject is treated with mock gravity; jocular; ironical.
burlesque
\bur*lesque"\ (&?;), a. [f. burlesque, fr. it. burlesco, fr. burla jest, mockery, perh. for burrula, dim. of l. burrae trifles. see bur.] tending to excite laughter or contempt by extravagant images, or by a contrast between the subject and the manner of treating it, as when a trifling subject is treated with mock gravity; jocular; ironical. 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.
burlesque
\bur*lesque"\, v. i. to employ burlesque.
burlesque
\bur*lesque"\ (&?;), n.
1. ludicrous representation; exaggerated parody; grotesque satire. burlesque is therefore of two kinds; the first represents mean persons in the accouterments of heroes, the other describes great persons acting and speaking like the basest among the people.
2. an ironical or satirical composition intended to excite laughter, or to ridicule anything. the dull burlesque appeared with impudence, and pleased by novelty in spite of sense.
3. 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?
1.A theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor; consists of comic skits and short turns (and sometimes striptease)
2.Relating to or characteristic of a burlesque
usage note:"BURLESQUE"suggests a scoffing particularly by giving a serious or exalted subject a frivolous treatment.
eg:The disguises that fill some chapters of "THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS" suggest the novel's debt to traditional romances. The British Romantic age began officially with the 1798 publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but the techniques of romance-including comedy, burlesque, exaggeration, and disguise- date back to the medieval period and the fabliaux of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Romantic writing of the nineteenth century emphasizes imagination over reason. Although Cooper grounds his novel in historical events, imagination dictates the course of the plot.
EG:And then followed a burlesque narrative of how this gentleman had almost been married two days before. There was not a word about the marriage, however, but the story was adorned with generals, colonels and kammer-junkers, while Zverkov almost took the lead among them. It was greeted with approving laughter; Ferfitchkin positively squealed.
(NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND)
2.Relating to or characteristic of a burlesque
usage note:"BURLESQUE"suggests a scoffing particularly by giving a serious or exalted subject a frivolous treatment.
eg:The disguises that fill some chapters of "THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS" suggest the novel's debt to traditional romances. The British Romantic age began officially with the 1798 publication of Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but the techniques of romance-including comedy, burlesque, exaggeration, and disguise- date back to the medieval period and the fabliaux of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Romantic writing of the nineteenth century emphasizes imagination over reason. Although Cooper grounds his novel in historical events, imagination dictates the course of the plot.
EG:And then followed a burlesque narrative of how this gentleman had almost been married two days before. There was not a word about the marriage, however, but the story was adorned with generals, colonels and kammer-junkers, while Zverkov almost took the lead among them. It was greeted with approving laughter; Ferfitchkin positively squealed.
(NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND)
Noun
1. a theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor; consists of comic skits and short turns (and sometimes striptease)
(hypernym) show
(derivation) spoof, parody
2. a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way
(synonym) parody, lampoon, spoof, sendup, mockery, takeoff, travesty, charade, pasquinade, put-on
(hypernym) caricature, imitation, impersonation
(derivation) spoof, parody
Verb
1. make a parody of; "The students spoofed the teachers"
(synonym) spoof, parody
(hypernym) mock
(hyponym) travesty
Adjective
1. relating to or characteristic of a burlesque; "burlesque theater"
Burlesque Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which itself derives from the Italian burla – a joke, ridicule or mockery.
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