irony
pronunciation
How to pronounce irony in British English:
UK [ˈaɪrəni]
How to pronounce irony in American English:
US [ˈaɪrəni]
-
- Noun:
- witty language used to convey insults or scorn
- incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs
- a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
Word Origin
- irony
- irony: [16] Irony has no etymological connection with iron. It comes via Latin īrōnia from Greek eirōneíā, which signified ‘deliberately pretending ignorance, particularly as a rhetorical device to get the better of one’s opponent in argument’. This was a derivative of eírōn ‘dissembler’, which in turn came from the verb eírein ‘say’. This original sense of ‘dissimulation’ survives in the expression Socratic irony, a reference to Socrates’ use of such feigned ignorance as a pedagogical method, but it has been overtaken as the main sense of the word by ‘saying the opposite of what one means’.
- irony (n.)
- c. 1500, from Latin ironia, from Greek eironeia "dissimulation, assumed ignorance," from eiron "dissembler," perhaps related to eirein "to speak" (see verb). Used in Greek of affected ignorance, especially that of Socrates. For nuances of usage, see humor. Figurative use for "condition opposite to what might be expected; contradictory circumstances" is from 1640s.
- irony (adj.)
- "of or resembling iron," late 14c., from iron (n.) + -y (2).
Example
- 1. Irony echoed in comments flashed on facebook and twitter .
- 2. The irony was missed , and fellow directors seized on it .
- 3. In a dark irony it is his native country that now faces obliteration .
- 4. The irony was hard to miss .
- 5. This would be no small irony .