Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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adj
Of or pertaining to the metal iron.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, rhetoric, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
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.
An ironic statement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, rhetoric
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Socratic irony: ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Contradiction between circumstances and expectations; condition contrary to what might be expected.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, informal, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A kind of metallic marble.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: childish, dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: incongruity, incongruousness
Narrower terms: Socratic irony
noun
witty language used to convey insults or scorn--Jonathan Swift
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: sarcasm, satire, caustic remark
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: wit, humor, humour, witticism, wittiness
noun
a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: trope, figure of speech, figure, image
Narrower terms: dramatic irony
History
From Middle English hyrony, yreny, yrony, yrunny, equivalent to iron + -y.
Etymology tree Ancient Greek εἴρων (eírōn) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek -είᾱ (-eíā) 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”).
Across languages
137 source translations are retained for this English entry.
