travest
UK/ˈtræv.ɪst/US/ˈtræ.vəst/
travest verb: to travesty; to disguise; to parody; to demean.
Verb
travest (third-person singular simple present travests, present participle travesting, simple past and past participle travested)
- To travesty; to disguise; to parody; to demean.
- I have not much endeavour'd to make any diſcoveries of it, and it is a hard matter to give any account thereof, without ſome hazard of traveſting Hiſtory into Romance.1678, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, “Of the Womens Appartment. The Principal Heads” (chapter XVII), in J. P., transl., The Six Voyages of John Baptiſta Tavernier, London, page 89
- I grant that wit requires comparison and a contrast, be it incongruity, or even absurdity; in mean, burlesque or dignified objects ; be it in travesting, exaggerating or diminishing reality ; but I see no proof that these mental operations result from the faculty in question alone, and therefore...1832, Johann Spurzheim, “Organ of Mirthfulness” (chapter XX), in Phrenology, or, The Doctrine of the Mental Phenomena, volume I, Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, page 254
Examples of travest in a sentence
- I have next shown you the Greeks, and " the wisdom" of their philosophy, often travesting, sometimes tarnishing the Christian religion : […]1839, Alexander Kinmont, “Lecture the Eighth; On the Unity in Variety of the Human Race”, in Twelve Lectures on the Natural History of Man...
- In the first place we shall often be discussing facts which have been so travested by propaganda that your knowledge of them is bound to be imperfect.1963, Lewis A. Coser, editor, Sociology Through Literature, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, page 217:
- The truth is that the child is not ‘like a boy,’ and that if you put him into a coat and waistcoat forthwith, he only would look like a small angel travested.1995, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, edited by Julia Markus, Dared and Done: The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, Alfred A....
Forms of travest
| third-person singular present | travests |
|---|---|
| present participle | travesting |
| past participle | travested |
| past | travested |
Origin of travest
From French travestir, from Italian travestire.
Questions about travest
- What does travest mean?
- Travest means to travesty; to disguise; to parody; to demean.
- How do you use travest in a sentence?
- I have next shown you the Greeks, and " the wisdom" of their philosophy, often travesting, sometimes tarnishing the Christian religion : […]
- What part of speech is travest?
- Travest is a verb.
- How do you pronounce travest?
- Travest is pronounced /ˈtræv.ɪst/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of travest?
- The past tense of travest is travested.
Words near travest in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: travest (page history and authors). 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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Cite this entry: “travest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/travest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.