Lexic.us

Definition of Irony

1. Noun. Witty language used to convey insults or scorn. "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"

2. Noun. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs. "The irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated"

3. Noun. A trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs.

Definition of Irony

1. a. Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles.

2. n. Dissimulation; ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.

Definition of Irony

1. Noun. 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, notably as a form of humor. ¹

2. 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. ¹

3. Noun. Ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist; Socratic irony. ¹

4. Noun. (informal sometimes proscribed)(cite news ¹

5. Adjective. Of or pertaining to the metal iron. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Irony

1. the use of words to express the opposite of what is literally said [n -NIES]

Medical Definition of Irony

1. 1. Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles. 2. Resembling iron taste, hardness, or other physical property. Origin: From Iron. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Irony

ironware ironwares ironweed ironweeds ironwoman ironwomen ironwood ironwood tree ironwoods ironwork

ironworker ironworkers ironworking ironworks ironwort irony (current term) irony mark irony marks iroquois irori

irous irradiance irradiances irradiancies irradiancy irradiant irradiate irradiated irradiated vitamin D milk irradiates

Literary usage of Irony

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Classical Weekly (1910)
"irony is, of course, a mode of speech by means of which is conveyed a meaning contrary to ... The unconscious irony, however, is likely to be more tragic ..."

2. Romanticism and the Romantic School in Germany by Robert Maximillian Wernaer (1909)
"CHAPTER X FRIEDRICH SCHLEGEL AND TIECK AS REPRESENTATIVES OF ROMANTIC irony THE word "irony" (Ironie) does not convey to us very much of the idea the ..."

3. An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures by Thomas Hartwell Horne (1841)
"irony. An irony is a figure, in which we speak one thing and design another ... An irony is distinguished from the real sentiments of the speaker or writer, ..."

4. Classical Weekly (1910)
"irony is, of course, a mode of speech by means of which is conveyed a meaning contrary to ... The unconscious irony, however, is likely to be more tragic ..."

5. Romanticism and the Romantic School in Germany by Robert Maximillian Wernaer (1909)
"CHAPTER X FRIEDRICH SCHLEGEL AND TIECK AS REPRESENTATIVES OF ROMANTIC irony THE word "irony" (Ironie) does not convey to us very much of the idea the ..."

6. An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures by Thomas Hartwell Horne (1841)
"irony. An irony is a figure, in which we speak one thing and design another ... An irony is distinguished from the real sentiments of the speaker or writer, ..."

7. Modern Essays by John Milton Berdan, John Richie Schultz, Hewette Elwell Joyce (1915)
"THE irony OF NATURE1 BY RICHARD BURTON In the delightful Foreword to his "Little ... The essay begins with an anecdote, illustrating the irony of character. ..."

8. Modern Essays by John Milton Berdan, John Richie Schultz, Hewette Elwell Joyce (1915)
"THE irony OF NATURE1 BY RICHARD BURTON In the delightful Foreword to his "Little ... The essay begins with an anecdote, illustrating the irony of character. ..."

9. Selections from the Prose Writings of John Henry, Cardinal Newman by John Henry Newman (1895)
"To the genuine rhetorician there is something specially attractive in the duplicity of irony, because of the opportunity it offers him of playing with ..."

10. Selections from the Prose Writings of John Henry, Cardinal Newman by John Henry Newman (1895)
"To the genuine rhetorician there is something specially attractive in the duplicity of irony, because of the opportunity it offers him of playing with ..."

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