Definition of "parody" []

• A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. See Synonyms at caricature. (noun)
• The genre of literature comprising such works. (noun)
• Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty: The trial was a parody of justice. (noun)
• Music The practice of reworking an already established composition, especially the incorporation into the Mass of material borrowed from other works, such as motets or madrigals. (noun)
• To make a parody of. See Synonyms at imitate. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "We have to stretch the term parody pretty far to talk about vids as parody."
• "During her run for vice president, Sarah Palin learned that often the best response to parody is to embrace it."
• "Possibly the most horrifying part of this parody is the author's pen name: Harrison Geillor."