ironic

See also: irònic

English

Alternative forms

• ironick (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin īrōnicus, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνικός (eirōnikós). Compare Middle French, ironique.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /aɪˈɹɒn.ɪk/

  • Audio (GB)

    (file)

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /aɪˈɹɑn.ɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɒnɪk

Adjective

ironic (comparative more ironic, superlative most ironic)

1. (Of a situation) Characterized by or constituting (any kind of) irony.

   It's somewhat ironic to have a wave of smog right on Earth Day.

   • 2014, Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century!, page 275:

     It was ironic I forgot my textbook on human memory.

   1. (proscribed) Odd or coincidental; strange.

      It's ironic that we are eating a sandwich in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

2. (preceded with "being") Acting in an unserious and teasing manner.

   Don't take it personally. We're just being ironic.

3. (Of a statement, action, etc.) Done in an insincere and mocking manner; satirical.

   You should assume that everything this guy posts is ironic.

Usage notes

Some writers complain about an overuse of the word ironic to extend to situations which are remarkable for reasons other than irony - perhaps just coincidental or merely odd.

Synonyms

• ironical

Derived terms

• ironical
• ironic error
• ironic process theory
• postironic

 

Related terms

• dramatic irony
• Socratic irony

 

Translations

characterized by irony

• Belarusian: ірані́чны (iraníčny)
• Bulgarian: ирони́чен (bg) (ironíčen), подиграва́телен (bg) (podigravátelen)
• Catalan: irònic (ca)
• Czech: ironický (cs)
• Danish: ironisk
• Dutch: ironisch (nl)
• Esperanto: ironia (eo)
• Finnish: ironinen (fi)
• French: ironique (fr)
• German: ironisch (de)
• Greek: ειρωνικός (el) (eironikós)
• Hebrew: אִירוֹנִי‎ (iróni)
• Italian: ironico (it), sarcastico (it)
• Japanese: 風刺的な (ふうしてきな, fūshiteki na)
• Latin: ironicus
• Macedonian: ироничен (ironičen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ironisk

• Occitan: ironic (oc)
• Polish: ironiczny (pl)
• Portuguese: irónico (pt) (Portugal), irônico (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: ironic (ro)
• Russian: ирони́ческий (ru) (ironíčeskij), ирони́чный (ru) (ironíčnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: иро̀ничан

  Roman: iròničan (sh)

• Slovak: ironický
• Slovene: ironičen (sl)
• Spanish: irónico (es)
• Swedish: ironisk (sv)
• Ukrainian: іроні́чний (ironíčnyj)

See also

• Irony on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Cirino, oniric

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ironique, from Late Latin īrōnicus, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνικός (eirōnikós). By surface analysis, ironie +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [iˈro.nik]

Adjective

ironic m or n (feminine singular ironică, masculine plural ironici, feminine and neuter plural ironice)

1. ironic

Declension

Declension of ironic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	ironic		ironică	ironici	ironici
	definite	ironicul		ironica	ironicii	ironicile
genitive/ dative	indefinite	ironic		ironici	ironici	ironici
	definite	ironicului		ironicii	ironicilor	ironicilor

Related terms

• ironie