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sarcasm

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Late Latin sarcasmus, from Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (sarkasmós, “a sneer”), from σαρκάζω (sarkázō, “I gnash the teeth (in anger)”, literally “I strip off the flesh”), from σάρξ (sárx, “flesh”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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sarcasm (countable and uncountable, plural sarcasms)

  1. (uncountable) Use of acerbic language to mock or convey contempt, often using verbal irony[1][2][3] and (in speech) often marked by overemphasis and sneering.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.
    • 2015, Alex Kozinski, Demuth v. County of Los Angeles, 798 F.3d 837, 839 (9th Cir. 2015).
      While challenging someone equipped with a badge, handcuffs and a gun to “arrest me” was unwise on Demuth’s part, we fail to see what legal difference her statement makes. Demuth certainly could not authorize her own arrest and, in any event, Li could not reasonably have believed that Demuth was volunteering for handcuffs. Demuth was obviously employing “a literary device known as sarcasm.” [Citation omitted.] Her statement was a snide way of refusing; no reasonable officer could have thought otherwise.
  2. (countable) An individual act of the above.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Herbert L. Colston (2017), “Irony and Sarcasm”, in Salvatore Attardo, editor, The Routledge Handbook of Language and Humor, pages 234–237: “Sarcasm is generally considered a nasty, mean-spirited or just relatively negative form of verbal irony, used on occasion to enhance the negativity expressed relative to direct, non-figurative criticism.”.
  2. ^ “sarcasm”, in Merriam-Webster‎[1], 14 October 2025 (last accessed), Frequently Asked Questions: “Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say, especially in order to insult someone, or to show irritation, or just to be funny.”
  3. ^ Melanie Glenwright, Penny M. Pexman (2009), “Development of children’s ability to distinguish sarcasm and verbal irony”, in Journal of Child Language, volume 37, pages 431–432: “When adults read statements directed at different topics, they judge statements referring to a specific individual’s failure to meet an expectation as sarcastic but they judge statements referring to expectations that are unmet, but at the fault of no particular individual, as ironic.”

Further reading

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French sarcasme, from Latin sarcasmus.

Noun

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sarcasm n (plural sarcasme)

  1. sarcasm

Declension

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Declension of sarcasm
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative sarcasm sarcasmul sarcasme sarcasmele
genitive-dative sarcasm sarcasmului sarcasme sarcasmelor
vocative sarcasmule sarcasmelor
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