Adjacent Words

Burlesque definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BURLESQUE,
BURLESQ'UER,
BURLET'TA, n. A comic opera; a musical entertainment.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: relating to or characteristic of a burlesque; "burlesque theater" n
1: a theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor; consists of comic skits and short turns (and sometimes striptease)
2: a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way [syn: parody, lampoon, spoof, sendup, mockery, takeoff, burlesque, travesty, charade, pasquinade, put-on] v
1: make a parody of; "The students spoofed the teachers" [syn: spoof, burlesque, parody]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: burlesque, adjective, comic, droll, from French, from Italian burlesco, from burla joke, from Spanish Date: 1667 1. a literary or dramatic work that seeks to ridicule by means of grotesque exaggeration or comic imitation 2. mockery usually by caricature 3. theatrical entertainment of a broadly humorous often earthy character consisting of short turns, comic skits, and sometimes striptease acts Synonyms: see caricature • burlesque adjective • burlesquely adverb II. verb (burlesqued; burlesquing) Date: 1676 transitive verb to imitate in a humorous or derisive manner ; mock intransitive verb to employ burlesque • burlesquer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., adj., & v. --n. 1 a comic imitation, esp. in parody of a dramatic or literary work. b a performance or work of this kind. c bombast, mock-seriousness. 2 US a variety show, often including striptease. --adj. of or in the nature of burlesque. --v.tr. (burlesques, burlesqued, burlesquing) make or give a burlesque of. Derivatives: burlesquer n. Etymology: F f. It. burlesco f. burla mockery

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Burlesque Bur*lesque", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Burlesqued; p. pr. & vb. n. Burlesquing.] 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. --Stillingfleet.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Burlesque Bur*lesque", v. i. To employ burlesque.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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. --Addison.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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. --Addison. 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. --Dryden. 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? --Burke. Syn: Mockery; farce; travesty; mimicry.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(burlesques) A burlesque is a performance or a piece of writing that makes fun of something by copying it in an exaggerated way. You can also use burlesque to refer to a situation in real life that is like this. The book read like a black comic burlesque. ...a trio of burlesque Moscow stereotypes. N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Caricaturing, travestying, parodying, parodical, ridiculing. II. n. Caricature, travesty, parody, farce, ludicrous representation, piece of ridicule. III. v. a. Caricature, travesty, make ludicrous or ridiculous.

Moby Thesaurus

Atticism, Broadway, Thalia, aggrandize, aggrandizement, agile wit, amplification, amplify, anamorphosis, ape, arlequinade, bad likeness, ballyhoo, belie, big talk, black comedy, black humor, blowing up, botch, broad, broad comedy, build up, burletta, camouflage, camp, caricatural, caricature, carnival, carry too far, circus, color, comedie bouffe, comedie larmoyante, comedie rosse, comedietta, comedy, comedy ballet, comedy of humors, comedy of ideas, comedy of intrigue, comedy of manners, comedy of situation, comedy relief, comic, comic muse, comic opera, comic relief, comical, copy, dark comedy, daub, derisive, dilatation, dilation, disguise, distort, distortion, doggerel, domestic comedy, drama, draw the longbow, dry wit, dummy, duplication, enhancement, enlargement, entertainment industry, esprit, exaggerate, exaggerating, exaggeration, excess, exode, exorbitance, expansion, extravagance, extreme, facsimile, falsify, farce, farce comedy, farcical, garble, genteel comedy, go to extremes, grandiloquence, harlequinade, hatchet job, heightening, high camp, hit off on, huckstering, humor, hyperbole, hyperbolism, hyperbolize, imitate, imitation, inflation, inordinacy, irony, knockoff, lampoon, lay it on, legit, legitimate stage, light comedy, low camp, low comedy, macaronic, magnification, magnify, make much of, malicious parody, mime, miscolor, misquote, misreport, misrepresent, misstate, misteach, mock, mock-heroic, mock-up, mockery, model, musical, musical comedy, nimble wit, off Broadway, off-off-Broadway, opera buffa, overcharge, overdo, overdraw, overemphasis, overestimate, overestimation, overkill, overpraise, overreach, overreact, oversell, overspeak, overstate, overstatement, overstress, paraphrase, parodic, parody, pasquil, pasquin, pasquinade, pastiche, pervert, pile it on, playland, pleasantry, poison pen, pretty wit, prodigality, profuseness, puff, puffery, puffing up, quick wit, raw comedy, ready wit, realistic comedy, repertory drama, replica, representation, reproduction, romantic comedy, salt, sarcasm, satire, satiric, satirical, satirize, satyr play, savor of wit, scratch, scribble, sensationalism, sentimental comedy, sham, show biz, show business, situation comedy, slant, slapstick, slapstick comedy, slapstick humor, spoof, squib, stage world, stagedom, stageland, stock, strawhat, strawhat circuit, stretch, stretch the truth, stretching, striptease, subtle wit, summer stock, superlative, take off, take off on, take-off, takeoff, talk big, talk in superlatives, tall talk, the boards, the footlights, the scenes, the stage, the theater, theater world, theatromania, theatrophobia, tout, touting, tragicomedy, tragicomic, travesty, twist, understate, variety, vaudeville, version, visual humor, warp, wicked imitation, wit, wrench