IRONY
What does "IRONY" mean?
A contrast between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens.
Meanings
- The use of words to convey a meaning opposite to their literal sense, often for humour or emphasis. Calling the disaster 'a lovely little outing' was pure irony.
- A state of affairs that is deliberately or strikingly contrary to what one would expect. The fire station burning down was an irony nobody found funny.
- Dramatic irony: a situation where the audience knows something a character does not. The irony is that we know the letter never arrived, but Romeo does not. technical
Word origin
From Greek 'eironeia' ('dissimulation, feigned ignorance'), via Latin 'ironia' - originally the trick of a speaker pretending to know less than he does.
Remember it
IRONY has no iron in it - and that gap between what it looks like and what it is, is irony itself.
A little poem
The weather app promised endless blue;
I packed for sun, left the umbrella home-
and the sky, hearing me, opened too.
tercet
Wordplay
- I told my friend irony is just saying the opposite of what you mean. 'Wow,' he said, 'how helpful.'
What it teaches
Life rhymes its setups with its payoffs; the gap between them is where wisdom and comedy share a seat.
Quick facts
What does IRONY mean?
A contrast between what is said or expected and what is actually meant or happens.
Is IRONY a valid word?
Yes — IRONY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is IRONY?
IRONY has 5 letters and 3 syllables.
Where does IRONY come from?
From Greek 'eironeia' ('dissimulation, feigned ignorance'), via Latin 'ironia' - originally the trick of a speaker pretending to know less than he does.
What can IRONY teach us?
Life rhymes its setups with its payoffs; the gap between them is where wisdom and comedy share a seat.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.