English Explanatory Dictionary

irony

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The quality of a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context.
  2. An ironic statement.
  3. Dramatic irony: a theatrical effect in which the meaning of a situation, or some incongruity in the plot, is understood by the audience, but not by the characters in the play.
  4. Socratic irony: ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.
  5. Contradiction between circumstances and expectations; condition contrary to what might be expected.
adj
  1. Of or pertaining to the metal iron.
noun
  1. A kind of metallic marble.

Pronunciation

/ˈaɪə.ɹə.ni/ /ˈaɪ.ɹə.ni/ /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/ en-us-irony-2.ogg en-us-irony.ogg /ˈɑɪ.ɹən.i/ en-au-irony.ogg /ˈaɪə.ni/

Word forms

irony ironies more irony most irony

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek εἴρων (eírōn) Ancient Greek εἰρωνεύομαι (eirōneúomai) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek εἰρωνείᾱ (eirōneíā)der. Latin īrōnīader. Old French Middle French ironieder. English irony First attested in 1502. From Middle French ironie, from Old French, from Latin īrōnīa, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία (eirōneía, “irony, pretext”), from εἴρων (eírōn, “one who feigns ignorance”).

Synonyms

ferric ferrous

Related words

ironically auxesis meiosis sarcasm

Derived words

cosmic irony dramatic irony ironic ironical ironist ironize ironym irony mark postirony post-irony situational irony Socratic irony

Translations

Albanian: ironi Arabic: سُخْرِيَة Arabic: مُفَارَقَة Arabic: تَهَكُّم Arabic: تَعَارُض Arabic: تَنَافُر Arabic: اِسْتِهْزَاء Armenian: հեգնանք Armenian: իրոնիա Azerbaijani: istehza Azerbaijani: rişxənd Azerbaijani: kinayə Belarusian: іро́нія Bulgarian: иро́ния Catalan: ironia Chinese Mandarin: 反語 /反语 Chinese Mandarin: 反話 /反话 Chinese Mandarin: 諷刺 /讽刺 Czech: ironie Danish: ironi Dutch: ironie Esperanto: ironio Estonian: iroonia Finnish: ironia French: ironie Galician: ironía Galician: retranca Georgian: ირონია German: Ironie Greek: ειρωνεία Hebrew: אִירוֹנְיָה Hindi: विडम्बना Hindi: विडंबना Hindi: व्यंग्य Hungarian: irónia Icelandic: írónía Indonesian: ironi Interlingua: ironia Irish: íoróin Italian: ironia Italian: paradosso Japanese: 反語 Japanese: 諷刺 Japanese: アイロニー Kazakh: ирония Korean: 반어 Korean: 풍자 Kyrgyz: ирония Latvian: ironija Lithuanian: ironija Macedonian: иронија Māori: kōrero takahiri Māori: kōrori Norwegian Bokmål: ironi Norwegian Nynorsk: ironi Persian: گواژه Persian: استهزا Persian: کنایه Persian: ریشخند Polish: ironia Portuguese: ironia
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