different between travesty vs casuistry

English

Etymology

From French travesti (“disguised, burlesqued”), past participle of travestir (“to disguise”), borrowed from Italian travestire (“to dress up, disguise”), from tra- (“across”) +? vestire (“to dress”), from Latin vesti? (“to clothe, dress”), from Proto-Italic *westis (“clothing”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéstis (“dressing”) from verbal root *wes- (“to dress, clothe”); cognate to English wear. Doublet of transvest.

Pronunciation

• enPR: tr?v??s-t?, tr?v??s-t?, IPA^(key): /?t?æv.?s.ti/, /?t?æv.?s.ti/
• Hyphenation: trav?es?ty

Noun

travesty (plural travesties)

1. An absurd or grotesque misrepresentation.
   • 1845, Thomas De Quincey, William Godwin

     The second edition is not a recast, but absolutely a travesty of the first.

2. A parody or stylistic imitation.
3. (derogatory) A grossly inferior imitation.

   A battlefield trial is a travesty of justice.

4. (colloquial, proscribed) An appalling version of something.

Synonyms

• caricature
• feign

Antonyms

• veracity

Related terms

Translations

Verb

travesty (third-person singular simple present travesties, present participle travestying, simple past and past participle travestied)

1. (transitive) To make a travesty of; to parody.

Further reading

• travesty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• travesty in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• travesty at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “travesty”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

English

Etymology

From casuist +? -ry. First recorded use in 1725.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kæ?u??st?i/, /?kæzju??st?i/
• Hyphenation: ca?su?ist?ry

Noun

casuistry (countable and uncountable, plural casuistries)

1. The process of answering practical questions via interpretation of rules, or of cases that illustrate such rules, especially in ethics; case-based reasoning.
   • 1968, Sidney Monas (translator), Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment 1866.

     And yet it would seem that the whole analysis he had made, his attempt to find a moral solution to the problem, was complete. His casuistry had been honed to a razor’s edge, and he could no longer think of any objections.

   • 1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2

     “And if you lose?” Diana enunciated, through a thin grin. She meant to extract casuistry’s penalty in advance.

2. (derogatory) A specious argument designed to defend an action or feeling.

Synonyms

• (process of answering practical questions by cases): casuistics
• (pejorative): excuse, legalism, rationalization, sophistry

Related terms

Translations

See also

• casuistry on Wikipedia.Wikipedia