irony

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs

   There was irony of Ireland's copying the nation it most despised.

2. 2
   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.

   Irony, saying what it ne'er intends, Censures with praise, and speaks to foes as friends.

3. 3
   adj

   Of or pertaining to the metal iron.

   The food had an irony taste to it.

4. 4
   noun

   A kind of metallic marble.

   And before the season's over millions of "glassies" and "aggies" or "ironies" will change hands, and thousands more will manage to get themselves lost.

5. 5
   noun

   witty language used to convey insults or scorn

6. 6
   noun

   a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs

7. 7
   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.

8. 8
   noun

   Socratic irony: ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.

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”).