Meaning & use
irony
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Meanings
noununcountable
Saying one thing while clearly meaning the opposite, often to be funny or to criticize.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: there was irony in her voice.
Patterns
- irony in something
- with irony
There was heavy irony in his voice when he called the rainy day perfect.
She said she loved doing taxes, and the irony was obvious.
Writers use irony to mock the powerful without saying so directly.
nouncountable or uncountable
An odd situation in which the result is the reverse of what you would expect or wish.
Grammar: Often used in the pattern the irony is that or it is ironic that.
Patterns
- the irony is that something
- a touch of irony
The irony is that the fire station burned down.
It was a cruel irony that the doctor fell ill himself.
He saw the irony in being late to his own talk about punctuality.
noununcountabletechnical
A literary or dramatic technique in which the audience knows something that a character does not.
Grammar: Usually with a describing word: dramatic irony.
Patterns
- dramatic irony
The play depends on dramatic irony, because we know the killer is in the room.
Students analyzed the irony of the narrator's cheerful tone.
Word forms
| plural | ironies |
|---|
Common combinations
- dramatic irony
- The scene is full of dramatic irony.
- bitter irony
- With bitter irony, he thanked them for their help.
- the irony of
- She noticed the irony of getting lost on a map tour.
- a cruel irony
- It was a cruel irony that the lifeguard could not swim.
- heavy irony
- He spoke with heavy irony about the new policy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sarcasm
- Sarcasm is usually sharper and meant to hurt, while irony can be mild or even gentle.
- paradox
- A paradox is a statement or situation that seems to contradict itself, but irony depends on a gap between expectation and result.
- satire
- Satire is a whole work that mocks society, and irony is one tool it may use.
- coincidence
- Coincidence is merely events happening together by chance, with no reversal of expectation.
Opposites
Word family
- ironic adjective
- involving a reversal of meaning or expectation
- ironical adjective
- a slightly more formal form of ironic
- ironically adverb
- in a way that is the opposite of what you would expect
- ironist noun
- a person who uses irony
Commonly confused: irony or coincidence? irony or iron?
irony vs coincidence
Rain on your wedding day is bad luck and not true irony, but a weather forecaster being caught in the rain without an umbrella is ironic.
irony vs iron
Iron is a metal and is spelled with one fewer letter; it is not related in meaning.
Practice
Which situation is the best example of irony?
Choose one answer.
A fire station burning down is the reverse of what we expect; rain, a prize or a late train are just bad luck, good luck or ordinary events.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “irony”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.