Burlesque

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           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.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           They burlesqued the prophet Jeremiah's words, and
           turned the expression he used into ridicule.
                                                    --Stillingfleet.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Burlesque \Bur*lesque"\, v. i.
     To employ burlesque.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Burlesque \Bur*lesque"\, n.
     1. Ludicrous representation; exaggerated parody; grotesque
        satire.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An ironical or satirical composition intended to excite
        laughter, or to ridicule anything.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The dull burlesque appeared with impudence,
              And pleased by novelty in spite of sense. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A ludicrous imitation; a caricature; a travesty; a gross
        perversion.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Mockery; farce; travesty; mimicry.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  burlesque
       adj : 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 somebody's style in a humorous
          way [syn: {parody}, {lampoon}, {spoof}, {sendup}, {mockery},
           {takeoff}, {travesty}, {charade}, {pasquinade}, {put-on}]
       v : make a parody of; "The students spoofed the teachers" [syn:
           {spoof}, {parody}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  239 Moby Thesaurus words for "burlesque":
     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