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a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things:
His caricature of the mayor in this morning’s paper is the best he’s ever drawn.
the art or process of producing such pictures, descriptions, etc.
any imitation or copy so distorted or inferior as to be ludicrous.
to make a caricature of; represent in caricature.
Contemporary Examples

According to the caricaturist, Thomas Rowlandson, chaos ensues.
The Best of Brit Lit Peter Stothard August 26, 2010

They reveal him as a talented cartoonist and caricaturist, reminiscent of Ralph Steadman and Edward Gorey.
Tim Burton’s Twisted Art Kate Taylor November 18, 2009

It seems to me that Bellows was most successful when he worked basically as a caricaturist, under the influence of Daumier.
A Little Island Writ Large Blake Gopnik August 5, 2012

Historical Examples

All these little things help to ‘mark’ the man for the caricaturist.
The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 30, June 1893 Various

“I was making a chalk drawing of him,” said the caricaturist.
The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 30, June 1893 Various

Rarely, indeed, does a German caricaturist presume to meddle with politics, and still more rarely does he do it with impunity.
Caricature and Other Comic Art James Parton.

A wonderful man for the caricaturist, and one of the finest.
The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 30, June 1893 Various

For even the work of a caricaturist becomes monotonous if he is but a master of one style and a slave to mannerisms.
The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol. 1 (of 2) Harry Furniss

A satirist, or to be more exact, a caricaturist, awoke within the naturalist.
Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert

He is now no longer the caricaturist of earlier days; he employs the popular dialect and comic touches with effective moderation.
Studies in Literature and History Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall

noun
a pictorial, written, or acted representation of a person, which exaggerates his characteristic traits for comic effect
a ludicrously inadequate or inaccurate imitation: he is a caricature of a statesman
verb
(transitive) to represent in caricature or produce a caricature of
n.

1754, from caricature (n.) + -ist.
n.

1748 (figurative), 1750 (literal), from French caricature (18c.), from Italian caricatura “satirical picture; an exaggeration,” literally “an overloading,” from caricare “to load, exaggerate,” from Vulgar Latin carricare “to load a car” (see charge (v.)). The Italian form had been used in English from 1680s and was common 18c.
v.

1749, from caricature (n.). Related: Caricatured; caricaturing.

In art or literature, portrayal of an individual or thing that exaggerates and distorts prominent characteristics so as to make them appear ridiculous. Caricature is commonly a medium for satire.