This week we continue our vocabulary-building series, “The Closing Word.” Each week we provide a new word to help build your vocabulary and show you how to specifically implement it in business. A well-spoken, intelligent agent inspires confidence with clients and colleagues alike.
This week’s closing word:
Pronounced: (TRAH-vess-tee)
An interesting thing about “travesty”? We use it wrong all the time. Most people use it interchangeably with “tragedy,” but this is incorrect. It actually means “a mockery” or “parody” of something.
This is where a “travesty of justice” comes from, and can help you think of the word correctly. Often a travesty of justice is a tragedy for those involved, but that doesn’t make travesty mean tragedy.
Noun:
a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something.
Synonyms:
perversion of, distortion of, corruption of, misrepresentation of, poor imitation of, poor substitute for, mockery of, parody of, caricature of; farce of, charade of, pantomime of, sham of, spoof of
Example:
“The broker and banker double standard is a travesty says J. Scott Harris, vice president of business development and recruiting at Gold Financial Services.”
