(pronounced TRA-veh-stee)

Similar to a tragedy, a travesty’s connotations are negative: a distorted, corrupted, or greatly inferior imitation or translation of something whether in content, style or overall treatment. You’ll most often hear it used in the phrase “a travesty of justice.”

Example: Although it was exactly what the university wanted, Josie felt that her firm’s design for the new campus library in the vein of a Georgian manor was an absolute architectural travesty.