Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use travesty in a sentence

10 example sentences · noun, verb

Travesty means an absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation. Example: “A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.”

Examples of travesty by meaning

nounAn absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation.

  • A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.
  • A re-route was achieved, with the line skirting the abbey ruins instead - although many continued to see the intrusion as a travesty against antiquity and the scenic beauty of the site.2022 January 12, Dr. Joseph Brennan, “Castles: ruined and redeemed by rail”, in RAIL, number 948, page 56

nounAn appalling event, situation or outcome (especially in relation to another outcome to which it is grossly inferior).

  • Spurs survived the scare - and such was their domination after the break that it would have been a travesty had Arsenal escaped Wembley, hosting a Premier League record attendance of 83,222, with a draw.2018 February 10, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 0 Arsenal”, in BBC

More sentences with travesty

  • There was a particularly horrible travesty of extreme unction called the ‘endura’.1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 173. From the entry endura
  • After the travesty of Project Reason’s Bible misinfographic, I had a look around: are there many good Bible infographics out there?2011 March 1, Arthur Davis, “Where are the Bible infographics?”, in Meet Jesus at uni. From the entry misinfographic
  • This is a travesty of the idea of a quale.1994: Howard Robinson, Perception, page 126 (Routledge; →ISBN, 978‒0415033640). From the entry experientable
  • Thus, the entire procedure of adjudication by the commission has become a farce and a travesty, which has outlived its usefulness.1984 February 4, Franklin Kameny, quotee, “A Call For Reorganization”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 28, page 2. From the entry adjudication
  • Predictably, however, developers made a travesty of Cerdà's plans and a concrete orchard of gardenless, fortress-like, six- or seven-storey blocks grew up instead.2009, Time Out Barcelona, page 99. From the entry gardenless
  • I may say that that single cursory examination of this awful travesty on Nature would have proved quite sufficient to my desires had I been a free agent.1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as…. From the entry cursory
  • I think I will go around to Snow White's house where she cohabits with the seven men in a mocksome travesty of approved behavior, and see what is stirring there.1967, The New Yorker, volume 42, part 7, page 125. From the entry mocksome

Meaning of travesty

  1. noun An absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation.
  2. noun A pastiche, parody, or stylistic imitation; a burlesque literary or artistic imitation (typically of a more serious work).
  3. noun An appalling event, situation or outcome (especially in relation to another outcome to which it is grossly inferior).

Full definition of travesty

Questions about travesty in a sentence

How do you use travesty in a sentence?
Travesty is used as a noun and verb. For example: “A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.”
What is a short sentence with travesty?
“A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.”
What does travesty mean?
Travesty means an absurd, grotesque, misrepresentative or grossly inferior likeness or imitation.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: travesty (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use travesty in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/travesty. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.