# irony

Pronunciation: US say "EYE-ruh-nee" /ˈaɪ.ɹə.ni/; UK say "EYE-uh-ruh-nee" /ˈaɪə.ɹən.i/

## Noun

1. The quality of a statement that, in context, means something different from, or the opposite of, its literal sense; the use of words to express something other than their literal intent, often humorously.
   - Simple: Saying one thing but meaning another, often the opposite, usually to be funny.
   - _Critics praised the essay's gentle irony, which mocks the author's own pretensions as much as anyone else's._
   - _When she calls her cramped studio 'the palace,' the irony is impossible to miss._
2. The quality of a situation in which what actually happens clashes with what was expected. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: When what happens is the opposite of what you would expect.
   - _The irony of a security firm getting robbed was lost on no one._
   - _With grim irony, the drought ended the same week the town finished its emergency reservoir._
3. A statement that, in context, means something other than, often the opposite of, what it literally says.
   - Simple: A remark that means something different from what the words really say.
   - _'Lovely,' she said, an irony nobody in the room missed._
   - _His farewell speech was packed with small ironies aimed at the committee._
4. A theatrical effect, often called dramatic irony, in which the audience understands the real meaning of a situation, or some incongruity in the plot, that the characters themselves do not.
   - Simple: A moment in a play or movie when the audience knows something important that the characters do not.
   - _Much of the thriller's irony comes from viewers knowing the detective's partner is the killer._
   - _The play builds its irony slowly, letting the audience learn of the shipwreck two acts before the heroine does._
5. Ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist, traditionally called Socratic irony.
   - Simple: Pretending not to know something in order to trap or test the other person in an argument.
   - _With studied irony, the lawyer professed confusion until the witness contradicted his earlier testimony._
   - _Her irony in seminar was famous: she would claim ignorance of a theory until students defended it precisely._

## Adjective

Pronunciation: US say "EYE-ur-nee" /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/; UK say "EYE-uh-nee" /ˈaɪə.ni/

6. Of or relating to the metal iron, as in the taste, smell, or appearance that iron gives a substance.
   - Simple: Having to do with the metal iron, like the taste, smell, or look iron gives something.
   - _Decades of rust gave the cellar an irony smell that never aired out._
   - _The well water had a faintly irony tang that the new filter never quite removed._

## Noun

7. A kind of marble having a metallic appearance or composition. *(dated)* (pronounced: US say "EYE-ur-nee" /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/; UK say "EYE-uh-nee" /ˈaɪə.ni/)
   - Simple: A marble that looks like metal or is made of metal.
   - _By the end of recess his jar of marbles held a dozen glassies and two ironies he had won._
   - _Among his marbles he prized a steel irony that scattered the glass ones with a single shot._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5** — First attested in 1502, it came through Middle French ironie and Latin īrōnīa from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία (eirōneía, "irony, pretext"), from εἴρων (eírōn), "one who feigns ignorance."
**Meanings 6–7** — From Middle English hyrony, yrony, and similar forms, equivalent to iron + -y.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/irony (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).