sarcasm

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   witty language used to convey insults or scorn

   I used sarcasm to upset my opponent.

2. 2
   noun

   Use of acerbic language to mock or convey contempt, often using verbal irony and (in speech) often marked by overemphasis and sneering.

   Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.

3. 3
   noun

   An individual act of the above.

Etymology

From Late Latin sarcasmus, from Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (sarkasmós, “a sneer”), from σαρκάζω (sarkázō, “to gnash the teeth (in anger)”, literally “to strip off the flesh”), from σάρξ (sárx, “flesh”).