These words refer to an exaggerated rendering of the recognizable features of something in order to mock or poke fun at it. Caricature , most specifically, refers to a drawing or cartoon of someone in which salient features are distorted or overemphasized for comic effect. This may be done in good-humoured fun or in an attempt at character assassination: a room filled with caricatures of theatrical stars; a caricature that represented the distinguished statesman as a masked gangster. The word can be used more widely of any production that deliberately distorts the recognizable features of something for any purpose: a novel that presents us with stereotyped caricatures rather than living human beings. Send-up and take-off are the most informal and general of any of these words, alluding to any exaggerated imitation designed to hold up its original to ridicule: a skit that was a send-up on the absurdities of several popular TV programmes; a imaginary transcript of a press conference that was a biting take-off on the real thing.

Mimicry , most specifically, suggests the exaggerated acting out of another person’s mannerisms and speech patterns; as with caricature , this may be done out of good humour or malice: his whining mimicry of the professor’s voice; a series of impersonations in which his keen sense for mimicry is expertly displayed. This word also is frequently used for a wider range of exaggerated imitations: his devastating mimicry of the worst features of Lawrence’s prose style. Sometimes the word can be used for inept imitation of an admired figure or style: his pitiful mimicry of upper-class manners.

Burlesque suggests a rowdy or zany reduction to the absurd of the content or style of some production or work, especially where the original is afflicted with pomposity or excessive solemnity: a revue that was a burlesque of the typically woebegone naturalistic play. Sometimes, like caricature or mimicry , the word can indicate specifically the satirizing of the characteristics or mannerisms of a particular person: a figure in the novel that was clearly a burlesque of a well-known feminist of that day. Parody most specifically suggests the ridiculing of a literary work by an exaggerated imitation of its style: a howling parody of Longfellow’s "Evangeline"; a virtuoso parody of the author’s endlessly tortuous sentence structure. Where burlesque may imply broad, slashing strokes applied slapdash, parody , by contrast, more often suggests an extremely skilful and understated imitation that is all the more effective for so cleverly catching the style of its original. Sometimes parodies have been done so consummately as to be mistakenly admired as a serious effort; this could almost never happen with a burlesque .

Travesty was once and is still rarely used, like burlesque or parody , to suggest a broad or skilful mocking of someone else’s style. It is now more often used to suggest an utterly inept or totally depraved debasement of something admirable; a shocking travesty of impartial judicial procedures. Sometimes, in its most hyperbolical uses, the standard to which something is compared is not even indicated: The whole concert was simply a travesty .