From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishburlesquebur‧lesque /bɜːˈlesk $ bɜːr-/ noun [countable, uncountable] 1 ALspeech, acting, or writing in which a serious subject is made to seem silly or an unimportant subject is treated in a serious way2 American EnglishAPT a performance involving a mixture of comedy and striptease, popular in America in the past
Examples from the Corpus
burlesque• Born in Nashville, Cheatham began his career as a burlesque performer.• He was made inflated, musclebound and awkward by the shirt, a burlesque act.• In typical Almodovar burlesque, Marina has become a star of pornographic and B-movies.• Ohio Street with its burlesque houses is out of the question.• The Hollywood was one of the last pure burlesque theaters anywhere.• Though his banner read burlesque, he occasionally dabbled in slightly more legitimate vaudeville fare.• He also wrote skits, burlesques, and film scenarios, and was an inspired anthologist.Origin burlesque (1600-1700) French Italian burlesco, from burla “joke” 