Irony

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• irony — In the ordinary use of language irony means primarily ‘an expression of meaning by use of words that have an opposite literal meaning or tendency’. When we look out of the window at the pouring rain and exclaim ‘What a lovely day!’, we are using… …   Modern English usage

• irony — irony1 [ī′rə nē, ī′ər nē] n. pl. ironies [Fr ironie < L ironia < Gr eirōneia < eirōn, dissembler in speech < eirein, to speak < IE base * wer , to speak > WORD] 1. a) a method of humorous or subtly sarcastic expression in which… …   English World dictionary

• Irony — I ron*y, a. [From {Iron}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles; In this sense {iron} is the more common term. [R.] Woodward. [1913 Webster +PJC] 2. Resembling iron in taste,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• Irony — I ron*y, n. [L. ironia, Gr. ? dissimulation, fr. ? a dissembler in speech, fr. ? to speak; perh. akin to E. word: cf. F. ironie.] [1913 Webster] 1. Dissimulation; ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• irony — noun cynicism, dissimulatio, ironia, mockery, sarcasm, satire Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

• irony — *wit, satire, sarcasm, humor, repartee …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

• irony — [n] sarcasm banter, burlesque, contempt, contrariness, criticism, derision, humor, incongruity, jibe, mockery, mordancy, paradox, quip, raillery, repartee, reproach, ridicule, sardonicism, satire, taunt, twist, wit; concepts 230,278 Ant.… …   New thesaurus

• irony — ► NOUN (pl. ironies) 1) the expression of meaning through the use of language which normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous effect. 2) a state of affairs that appears perversely contrary to what one expects. ORIGIN Greek eir neia… …   English terms dictionary

• Irony — Ironic redirects here. For the song, see Ironic (song). For other uses, see irony (disambiguation). A Stop sign ironically defaced with a beseechment not to deface stop signs Irony (from the Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning dissimulation… …   Wikipedia

• irony — irony1 /uy reuh nee, uy euhr /, n., pl. ironies. 1. the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, How nice! when I said I had to work all weekend. 2. Literature. a. a technique of… …   Universalium