Words / B / General

burlesque

noun/bɜːˈlesk/

C2CEFR level
55/100Rarity: uncommon
LiteraryRegister

A comic imitation that mocks its subject through absurd exaggeration.

The revue was a broad burlesque of courtroom drama, complete with a weeping goldfish.

Similar: parody, travesty, caricature

Origin: From French, from Italian burlesco, from burla mockery.

Topic: satire in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

Get words like burlesque on your lock screen, a few a day, with review that makes them stick.

Download on the App Store Lexfall puts a new word on your home and lock screen through widgets, so you learn without opening an app. Free to download. After a free trial, a subscription unlocks every field. Built for iPhone, iOS 15.1 or later.
QR code that opens Lexfall on the App Store
On a computer?Scan with your iPhone camera.

More general words: satire