Irony
['aɪrənɪ] or ['aɪrəni]
Definition
(noun.) incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; 'the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated'.
(noun.) a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs.
Checker: Sondra--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles.
(a.) Resembling iron taste, hardness, or other physical property.
(n.) Dissimulation; ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.
(n.) A sort of humor, ridicule, or light sarcasm, which adopts a mode of speech the meaning of which is contrary to the literal sense of the words.
Inputed by Elliot
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Ridicule, raillery, banter, mockery, ASTEISM, saying one thing and meaning the opposite.
Inputed by Antonia
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Satire, banter, quiz, rally, taunt, sarcasm, raillery, ridicule
ANT:Compliment, seriousness
Edited by Cathryn
Definition
n. a mode of speech which enables the speaker to convey his meaning with greater force by means of a contrast between the thought which he evidently designs to express and that which his words properly signify: satire.—adj. Iron′ical meaning the opposite of what is expressed: satirical.—adv. Iron′ically.—The irony of fate the perverse malignity of fate.
Typed by Catherine
Examples
- There was some delightful naked irony in Hermione. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He is greatly irritated by the irony of Socrates, but his noisy and imbecile rage only lays him more and more open to the thrusts of his assailant. Plato. The Republic.
- Nowhere in Plato is there a deeper irony or a greater wealth of humour or imagery, or more dramatic power. Plato. The Republic.
- I said, with withering irony, that it was sufficient to be skinned--I declined to be scalped. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- His marriage would be a mere piece of bitter irony if they could not go on loving each other. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Oh, I would wait a little longer than to-morrow--there is no knowing what may happen, said Lydgate, with bitter irony. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- The irony of circumstances holds no mortal catastrophe in respect. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The irony faded from her eyes, and she bent a clouded face upon her friend. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- When later, Carlyle and Ruskin battered the economists into silence with invective and irony they were voicing the dumb protest of the humane people of England. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- At last Loerke turned to Gudrun, raising his hands in helpless irony, a shrug of ironical dismissal, something appealing and child-like. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- To be stung by irony it is not necessary to understand it, and the angry streaks on Trenor's face might have been raised by an actual lash. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- He emphasized the word holy with a touch of irony. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- He spoke in a peculiarly slow, quiet voice, and with an expression of still irony in his face not easy to describe. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Often a drop of irony into an indifferent situation renders the whole piquant. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Everything turned to irony with her: the last flavour of everything was ironical. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
Typed by Amalia