Meaning & use
parody
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Meanings
nouncountable
A piece of writing, music, film or performance that copies the manner of something well known and exaggerates it so that people laugh.
Grammar: Usually followed by of the thing imitated: a parody of a detective film.
Patterns
- a parody of something
- a parody of someone
The comedy group released a parody of a famous perfume advert.
Her essay was a gentle parody of academic writing, full of absurdly long sentences.
The show is a sharp parody of daytime talk programs.
nouncountabledisapproving
A poor or ridiculous imitation of something, so weak that it seems to mock the real thing.
Grammar: Often used with a: the trial became a parody of justice.
Patterns
- a parody of something
The rushed inspection was a parody of a proper safety check.
What the council called a consultation was a parody of democracy.
His speech turned into a parody of leadership.
verbtransitive
To copy the style of a person or work in an exaggerated way in order to make people laugh.
Grammar: Takes an object: the sketch parodies a news broadcast.
Patterns
- parody someone
- parody something
The cartoon parodies old fairy tales by making the princess the villain.
Comedians often parody politicians by exaggerating their speech habits.
The band parodied its own early songs on the new album.
Word forms
| plural | parodies |
|---|---|
| third person singular | parodies |
| past tense | parodied |
| past participle | parodied |
| -ing form | parodying |
Common combinations
- a savage parody
- The film is a savage parody of celebrity culture.
- a gentle parody
- The poem is a gentle parody of a hymn.
- write a parody
- She wrote a parody of the school song for the end-of-year show.
- a parody of justice
- Critics called the hearing a parody of justice.
- parody account
- A parody account of the mayor gained thousands of followers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spoof
- A spoof is lighter and more playful, and usually aims to amuse rather than to make a point about the original.
- satire
- Satire criticizes society or people through humor, while a parody specifically imitates a particular work or style.
- send-up
- Send-up is a more casual British word for a short comic imitation, usually of a person.
- travesty
- A travesty is a bad, insulting imitation that is not meant to be funny, unlike a parody.
Word family
Commonly confused: parody or paradox? parody or satire?
parody vs paradox
A paradox is a statement or situation that seems to contradict itself yet may be true; it has nothing to do with imitation.
parody vs satire
Satire attacks a target through humor in general; a parody has to copy something specific.
Practice
The film copies the style of old horror movies and exaggerates every cliche. It is best described as a ___.
Choose one answer.
A parody imitates a known style and exaggerates it for comic effect. A paradox is a self-contradicting statement, which is a tempting similar-sounding word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “parody”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.