What Does Irony Mean?

Irony is a noun that is a kind of figure of speech in the English language. It is the use of words in such a way to express something entirely different from and often opposite to what they literally mean. There is an immediate contrast that exists between a statement of irony and what it intends to say. Irony is used in literature to use the contrasts that irony creates to give a kind of rhetorical or humorous effect. An irony also means or refers to the incongruity that is observed between what actually occurs and what was expected to happen.

Irony may be defined as sarcasm, caustic remark and sarcasm and its antonyms include deference, consideration and sincerity.

A Socratic irony refers to a person who pretends to be ignorant or foolish but in fact is not. There are also Tragic and Cosmic irony.

Ironic: In drama, irony is the dramatic effect produced when the audience knows more than the characters in the play. In everyday use, an ironic remark is one, often humorous, that means the opposite of what is said, particularly if it appears to be sincere: You're every bit as good as your brother is ironic if the speaker thinks the listener's brother is no good at all. Ironic is often used loosely to mean paradoxical, the opposite of what might be expected: Ironically, the poorest people are often the most generous. Although this usage is fairly well established, some people dislike it. Consider whether you really need anything to introduce the statement. If you do, paradoxically, strangely, oddly enough etc can be used. Avoid using ironic to mean simply odd, unexpected, out of the ordinary.