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Irony - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Irony : (noun)
1: witty language used to convey insults or scorn; "he used
sarcasm to upset his opponent"; "irony is wasted on the
stupid"; "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders
do generally discover everybody's face but their
own"--Johathan Swift [syn: sarcasm, satire, caustic
remark]
2: incongruity between what might be expected and what actually
occurs; "the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she
most hated"
3: a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected
and what occurs
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Irony : \I"ron*y\, a. [Based on Iron.]
1. Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as,
irony chains; irony particles. [R.]
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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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.]
1. Dissimulation; ignorance feigned for the purpose of
confounding or provoking an antagonist.
2. A sort of humor, ridicule, or light sarcasm, which adopts
a mode of speech the meaning of which is contrary to the
literal sense of the words.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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IRONY, rhetoric. A term derived from the Greek, which signifies
dissimulation. It is a refined species of ridicule, which, under the mask of
honest simplicity or ignorance, exposes the faults and errors of others, by
seeming to adopt or defend them.
2. In libels,Irony : may convey imputations more effectually than direct
assertion, and render the publication libelous. Hob. 215; Hawk. B. 1, c. 73,
s. 4; 3 Chit. Cr. Law, 869, Bac. Ab. Libel, A 3.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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