burlesque
17 synonyms for burlesque, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A variety stage show combining comic sketches, musical numbers and striptease, associated with American theatres of the early twentieth century and revived since the 1990s as a knowingly retro, glamorous performance art.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
A variety stage show combining comic sketches, musical numbers and striptease, associated with American theatres of the early twentieth century and revived since the 1990s as a knowingly retro, glamorous performance art.
“She performs burlesque at a supper club, feather fans and all.”
2. noun
A piece of writing, music or theatre that mocks something serious by treating it in a deliberately mismatched way — grand subjects handled cheaply, or trivial subjects handled with mock grandeur.
“The poem is a burlesque of Homer, with the heroes squabbling over a tea trolley.”
3. verb
To imitate something in an exaggerated, mocking way.
“The revue burlesqued every member of the cabinet in turn.”
How to use burlesque
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
The performance sense is now the dominant one and is neutral; the literary sense is formal and mostly appears in criticism.
Etymology
From Italian burlesco, from burla 'joke, mockery, jest', which entered English through French burlesque in the seventeenth century.
Full origin of burlesque →