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Burlesque   /bərlˈɛsk/   Listen
noun
Burlesque  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?"
Synonyms: Mockery; farce; travesty; mimicry.



verb
Burlesque  v. t.  (past & past part. burlesqued; pres. part. 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."



Burlesque  v. i.  To employ burlesque.



adjective
Burlesque  adj.  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."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Burlesque" Quotes from Famous Books



... and delighting to turn even matters of seriousness into ridicule, was immeasurably captivated by the true burlesque of those disputes, the childish virulence, the extravagant pretensions, and the still more extravagant impostures fabricated in support of the rival pre-eminence in absurdity; the visions of half-mad nuns and friars; the Convulsionaries; ...
— Fox's Book of Martyrs - Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant - Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs • John Fox

... the scene a burlesque rehearsal of an old-time melodrama. Our opportunities were great, and Heaven knows we missed none of them. New York audiences are quick, and in less than three minutes they knew the actors had taken the bit between their teeth and were off on a mad race of fun. Everything ...
— Stage Confidences • Clara Morris

... found amusement in composing treatises on odd subjects. Seneca wrote a burlesque narrative of Claudian's death. Pierius Valerianus has written an eulogium on beards; and we have had a learned one recently, with due gravity and pleasantry, entitled "Eloge ...
— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli

... dubitarim:" and the great professor Burman hath styled Tom Thumb "Heroum omnium tragicorum facile principem:" nay, though it hath, among other languages, been translated into Dutch, and celebrated with great applause at Amsterdam (where burlesque never came) by the title of Mynheer Vander Thumb, the burgomasters receiving it with that reverent and silent attention which becometh an audience at a deep tragedy. Notwithstanding all this, there have not been wanting some who have represented these scenes in ...
— Miscellanies, Volume 2 (from Works, Volume 12) • Henry Fielding

... former, that of earnest and submissive contemplation, declares itself in prayers, hymns, and "the dim religious light" of cathedrals. The second mood, that of playful and erratic fancy, is conspicuous in the buffoonery of Miracle Plays, in Marchen, these burlesque popular tales about our Lord and the Apostles, and in the hideous and grotesque sculptures on sacred edifices. The two moods are present, and in conflict, through the whole religious history of the ...
— Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1 • Andrew Lang


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