I. ˈtravə̇stē, -sti noun
( -es )
Etymology: French travesti, past participle of travestir to disguise, from Italian travestire, from tra- across, through (from Latin trans ) + vestire to dress, from Latin, from vestis garment — more at trans- , wear
1.
a. : a burlesque translation or literary or artistic imitation usually grotesquely incongruous in style, treatment, or subject matter : parody
achieves a ludicrous effect in his travesty of the epic as a melodramatic farce
the image I saw there … but a travesty , cunningly made of enameled clay or some other material, and put there by some malicious enemy to mock me — W.H.Hudson †1922
b. : a literary or artistic work that because of various inadequacies is only an inferior or grotesque imitation of its prototype
some of them deliberately distort to achieve a primitive effect and the result is a travesty — Esther Warner
c. : a debased or distorted imitation or representation : sham , mockery
such a travesty of a horse … that if it had been galloped it would have fallen down and broken its neck — David Masters
dismembered so much and misinterpreted so much else as to leave … a travesty rather than a document — Irving Kolodin
had been arrested and tried and four of them executed … a shocking travesty on justice — R.M.Lovett
a travesty of democracy … votes were openly sold and openly quoted on the market — C.P.Fitzgerald
2. : a change in dress or appearance usually for dramatic purposes and often to represent the opposite sex : makeup , disguise
the falling of the masks occasions a living change … when they continue dancing, unmasked, still in their travesties — Sacheverell Sitwell
the male principle … evaporated into travesty , girls assuming the dress of boys — Lincoln Kirstein
Synonyms: see caricature
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
1. : to change in dress or appearance : disguise
the great medieval style was … travestied in materials and design — American Guide Series: Michigan
2. : to make a travesty of : parody , burlesque
to travesty human nature without … cruelty is a great and wonderful art — J.S.Clarke
later examples … travestied the classic style rather than copied it — American Guide Series: Massachusetts