bur ‧ lesque /bɜːˈlesk $ bɜːr-/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: Italian burlesco , from burla 'joke' ]
1 . speech, acting, or writing in which a serious subject is made to seem silly or an unimportant subject is treated in a serious way
2 . American English a performance involving a mixture of ↑ comedy and ↑ striptease , popular in America in the past