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car·i·ca·ture (kărĭ-kə-chr, -chər)
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n.
1.
a. A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect.
b. The art of creating such representations.
2. A grotesque imitation or misrepresentation:The trial was a caricature of justice.
tr.v.car·i·ca·tured, car·i·ca·tur·ing, car·i·ca·tures
To represent or imitate in an exaggerated, distorted manner.

[French, fromItaliancaricatura, fromcaricare, to load, exaggerate, fromLate Latincarricāre, fromLatincarrus, a Gallic type of wagon; see kers- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

cari·ca·turistn.
(click for a larger image)
(click for a larger image)
caricature
caricature (top) by George Sidney Shepherd (1784-1862) and photographic portrait (bottom) of Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.