burlesque
/bə(ɹ)ˈlɛsk/
burlesque adjective: parodical; parodic.
Adjective
burlesque (comparative more burlesque, superlative most burlesque)
- Parodical; parodic
- 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.1711 December 25 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, December 15, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 249; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a...
- Podunk. A term applied to an imaginary place in burlesque writing or speaking.1877, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms, 4th edition, page 791
Noun
burlesque (countable and uncountable, plural burlesques)
- A derisive art form that mocks by imitation; a parody.
- Burlesque is therefore of two kinds; the first represents mean persons in the accoutrements of heroes, the other describes great persons acting and speaking like the basest among the people.1711 December 25 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, December 15, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 249; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a...
- The dull burlesque appeared with impudence, / And pleased by novelty in spite of sense.1683, John Dryden, The Art of Poetry
- A variety adult entertainment show, usually including titillation such as striptease, most common from the 1880s to the 1930s.
- 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?1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- imitation, caricature
Verb
burlesque (third-person singular simple present burlesques, present participle burlesquing, simple past and past participle burlesqued)
- To make a burlesque parody of.
- When the venerable New York Times took my quote in which I described the neon elements as "burlesquing the myth of male dominance" and instead printed "he prefers to describe them as . . . symbols of male dominance" it became clear that dealing with journalists was going to be one long, rocky road.1988 February 5, Billie Lawless, “Laying Down the Lawless”, in Chicago Reader
- 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.1678, Edward Stillingfleet, A Sermon preached on the Fast-Day, November 13, 1678
burlesque meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
burlesque in Tamil
- பர்லஸ்க், பர்லெஸ்க், பர்லஸ்க்யூ
burlesque in Marathi
- बर्लेस्क करण्यासाठी, बुर्लेस्क करण्यासाठी
burlesque in Urdu
- مضحکہ خیز نقل
burlesque in Bengali
- বর্লেস্ক করার জন্য, বর্লেস্ক করতে
More languagesFewer languages
- burlesque in Telugu
- బుర్లెస్క్, బర్లెస్క్, బర్లేస్క్
- burlesque in Malayalam
- പരിഹാസകവനം, ഹാസ്യവിഡംബനം, അപഹാസകവിത, ഹാസ്യാനുകരണം
- burlesque in Kannada
- ಬರ್ಲೆಸ್ಕ್, ಬುರ್ಲೆಸ್ಕ್, ಬುರ್ಲೆಸ್ಕ್ಯೂಗೆ
- burlesque in Punjabi
- ਬਰਲੇਸਕ, ਬੁਰਲੇਸਕ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
- burlesque in Gujarati
- બર્લેસ્ક, બર્લેસ્ક કરવા
- burlesque in Odia
- ବର୍ଲେସ୍କ୍ କରିବାକୁ, ବର୍ଲେସ୍କ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ବର୍ଲେସ୍କ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
- burlesque in Nepali
- बुर्लेस्क, बर्लेस्क गर्न
- burlesque in Arabic
- عَرْض مَسْرَحِيّ هَزْلِيّ ʕarḍ masraḥiyy hazliyy
Examples of burlesque in a sentence
- Sketchy’s, a life drawing class that’s also a burlesque show with music, costumes and seminudity.
- The Minsky family had become synonymous with burlesque beginning in its earliest days, was hugely profitable.
- A few pessimizing compilers have been written on purpose, however, as pranks or burlesques.
Synonyms of burlesque
Forms of burlesque
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more burlesque |
| superlative | most burlesque |
| alternative form (obsolete) | burlesk |
| Noun | |
| plural | burlesques |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | burlesques |
| present participle | burlesquing |
| past participle | burlesqued |
| past | burlesqued |
Origin of burlesque
Borrowed from French burlesque, from Italian burlesco (“parodic”).
Words formed from burlesque
Questions about burlesque
- What does burlesque mean?
- Burlesque means parodical; parodic.
- What is burlesque in Tamil?
- Burlesque in Tamil is பர்லஸ்க், பர்லெஸ்க், பர்லஸ்க்யூ. See Burlesque meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is burlesque?
- Burlesque can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce burlesque?
- Burlesque is pronounced /bə(ɹ)ˈlɛsk/.
Words near burlesque in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: burlesque (page history and authors); burlesque (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); burlesque (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); burlesque (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burlesque (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-burlesque.wav.
Cite this entry: “burlesque.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/burlesque. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.