different between travesty vs mockery

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 Middle English mokkery, from Anglo-Norman mokerie, mokery and Middle French mocquerie, moquerie, from moquer, moker (“to mock”) + -erie (“-ery”), perhaps from Byzantine Greek ????? (m?kós, “mocker”), perhaps from Arabic ?????????? (al-makru, “guile, cunning”). Equivalent to mock +? -ery.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m?k??i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?m?k??i/

Noun

mockery (countable and uncountable, plural mockeries)

1. The action of mocking; ridicule, derision.
2. Something so lacking in necessary qualities as to inspire ridicule; a laughing-stock.
3. (obsolete) Something insultingly imitative; an offensively futile action, gesture etc.
4. Mimicry, imitation, now usually in a derogatory sense; a travesty, a ridiculous simulacrum.

   The defendant wasn't allowed to speak at his own trial - it was a mockery of justice.

Usage notes

• We often use make a mockery of someone or something, meaning to mock them. See also Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ridicule

Translations