irony

WOTD - 28 February 2008    

Wikipedia

English

Etymology 1

First attested in 1502. From Latin īrōnīa (perhaps via Middle French ironie), from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία (eirōneia, “irony, pretext”), from εἴρων (eirōn, “one who feigns ignorance”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈaɪə.rən.i/, SAMPA: /"aI@.r@n.I/
• (US) IPA: /ˈaɪ.rə.ni/, /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/, SAMPA: /"aI.r@.nI/, /"aI.@`.ni/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

irony (usually uncountable; plural ironies)

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist; Socratic irony.
4. (informal, proscribed) The quality or state of an event being both coincidental and contradictory in a humorous or poignant and extremely improbable way.

Derived terms

terms derived from irony

dramatic irony irony mark ironic

ironical ironist Socratic irony

Related terms

• ironically

Translations

statement that may mean the opposite of what is written literally

American Sign Language: Corna@Nose-Corna@@SideChesthigh Corna@RadialHand-Corna@CenterChesthigh Arabic: سخرية (ar) (sakhriya) f., مفارقة (ar) (mufaaraqa) f. (paradox), تهكم (ar) (tahákkum) m. (satire, sarcasm), تعارض (ar) (ta3aaruD) m. (discrepancy), تنافر (ar) (tanaafur) m. (incongruity) Bosnian: ironija (bs) f. Catalan: ironia (ca) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 反語 (cmn), 反语 (cmn) (fǎnyǔ), 反話 (cmn), 反话 (cmn) (fǎnhuà), 諷刺 (cmn), 讽刺 (cmn) (fěngcì) (satire, sarcasm) Croatian: ironija (hr) f. Czech: ironie (cs) f. Danish: ironi (da) c. Dutch: ironie (nl) f. Esperanto: ironio (eo) Finnish: ironia (fi) f. French: ironie (fr) f.

German: Ironie (de) f. Greek: ειρωνεία (el) (eironeía) f. Hungarian: irónia (hu) Interlingua: ironia (ia) Irish: íoróin (ga) f. Japanese: 反語 (ja) (はんご, hango), 諷刺 (ja) (ふうし, fūshi) (satire, sarcasm), アイロニー (ja) (aironī) Norwegian: ironi (no) m. Polish: ironia (pl) f. Portuguese: ironia (pt) f. Romanian: ironie (ro) f. Russian: ирония (ru) (irónija) f. Slovene: ironija (sl) f. Spanish: ironía (es) f. Swedish: ironi (sv) c. Turkish: tezat (tr), ironi (tr)

quality or state of an event being both coincidental and contradictory

Bosnian: ironija (bs) f. Catalan: ironia (ca) f. Croatian: ironija (hr) f. Danish: ironi (da) c. Dutch: ironie (nl) f., het ironische n. Finnish: ironia (fi) f. French: ironie du sort (fr) f. German: Ironie (de) f. Greek: ειρωνεία (el) (eironeía) f.

Interlingua: ironia (ia) Norwegian: skjebnens ironi (no) Polish: ironia (pl) f. Romanian: ironie (ro) f. Russian: ирония (ru) (irónija) f. Slovene: ironija (sl) f. Spanish: ironía (es) f. Swedish: ironi (sv) c. Turkish: ironi (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Aragonese: ironía (an) f. Basque: ironia (eu) Breton: mousfen (br) Esperanto: ironio (eo) Estonian: iroonia (et) Hebrew: אירוניה (he) (ironiya) f.

Interlingua: ironia (ia) Italian: ironia (it) f. Latvian: ironija (lv) f. Lithuanian: ironija (lt) f. Occitan: ironia (oc) f. Slovak: irónia (sk) f.

Etymology 2

iron +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈaɪə.ni/, SAMPA: /"aI@.nI/
• (US) IPA: /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

irony (comparative more irony, superlative most irony)

1. Of or pertaining to the metal iron.

   The food had an irony taste to it.

Synonyms

• ferric
• ferrous

Translations

of or pertaining to iron

Dutch: ijzerachtig, ijzerhoudend French: ferreux (fr) Greek: σιδερένιος (el) (siderénios) m., σιδηρούς (el) (sidiroús) m.

Polish: żelazny (pl) m. Romanian: feros (ro) m. and n.