ironyi‧ron‧y /ˈaɪərəni $ ˈaɪrə-/ ●○○ noun (plural ironies) 
Life is full of little ironies.tragic/cruel/bitter etc irony The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives.2[uncountable] when you use words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusingtrace/hint/touch of irony Wagner calls his program ‘the worst talk show in America,’ without a hint of irony.heavy irony British English (=a lot of irony) ‘Of course Michael won’t be late; you know how punctual he always is,’ she said with heavy irony.► see thesaurus at language → sarcasm, dramatic irony
WORD ORIGINirony
Origin:
1500-1600 Latin ironia, from Greek eironeia, from eiron ‘person who lies’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Life is full of ironies, some hilarious, some tragic.
- The irony is that some of the poorest countries have the richest natural resources.
- The irony of the situation was obvious -- if I told the truth, nobody would believe me!
- The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives.
- Through irony and humor, James dilutes the seriousness of the novel.
- And the bitterest irony of all was that he himself was a victim.
- Beneath the cynicism, beneath the irony, however, turmoil.
- It is worth stressing the irony of the applicant's position.
- Perhaps the author is being satirical, employing irony, allegory, or ambiguity.
- The irony continued throughout its pages.
- The irony of it is that he has the persistence to get somewhere.
- We thank Flaubert for picking it up; in a sense, the irony wasn't there until he observed it.
THESAURUStechniques used in language
a way of describing something by referring to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing: · The beehive is a metaphor for human society.
an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words as or like, for example ‘as white as snow’: · The poet uses the simile ‘soft like clay’.
the use of words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing: · ‘I’m so happy to hear that,’ he said, with more than a trace of irony in his voice.
a sudden change from a subject that is beautiful, moral, or serious to something that is ordinary, silly, or not important: · The play is too sentimental and full of bathos.
a way of describing something by saying that it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is – used especially to excite people’s feelings: · In his speeches, he used a lot of hyperbole.· journalistic hyperbole
the use of several words together that all begin with the same sound, in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry: · the alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘sweet birds sang softly’
the use of words to describe ideas or actions in a way that makes the reader connect the ideas with pictures in their mind: · the use of water imagery in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’· She uses the imagery of a bird’s song to represent eternal hope.
a question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer: · When he said ‘how can these attitudes still exist in a civilized society?’, he was asking a rhetorical question.
Longman Language Activatorwhen the opposite of what is expected happens something that is ironic is funny, but in a sad or strange way, because it is the opposite of what you would expect: · "I've heard that Dan's really upset about the divorce." "How ironic. He was always the one who was against them getting married in the first place."· It was an ironic situation, the two men in her life meeting like that.it is ironic that: · It's ironic that the most important people in the country often have so little understanding of how ordinary people live.
something that is funny, but in a sad or strange way, because it is the opposite of what you would expect: · Life is full of ironies, some hilarious, some tragic.irony of: · The irony of the situation was obvious -- if I told the truth, nobody would believe me!the irony is that: · The irony is that some of the poorest countries have the richest natural resources.
WORD SETSacrostic, nounadapt, verballiteration, nounanagram, nounannual, nounanthology, nounantihero, nounapologia, nounappendix, nounassonance, nounauthorship, nounautobiography, nounballad, nounbard, nounbathos, nounbiography, nounblank verse, nounbowdlerize, verbburlesque, nouncaesura, nouncameo, nouncanon, nouncanto, nouncaricature, nounchapter, nouncharacterization, nouncitation, nounclimax, nounclimax, verbcoda, nouncollected, adjectiveconceit, nouncorpus, nouncouplet, nouncritique, noundactyl, noundeclamatory, adjectivedeconstruction, noundense, adjectivedevice, noundialogue, noundiarist, noundiction, noundigest, noundoggerel, noundraft, noundraft, verbdrama, noundub, nounelegy, nounending, nounepic, adjectiveepigram, nounepilogue, nounepistolary, adjectiveepitaph, nounessay, nounessayist, nouneulogy, nounexegesis, nounfable, nounfairy tale, nounfantasy, nounfiction, nounfictional, adjectivefirst edition, nounfirst person, nounflashback, nounflorid, adjectiveflowery, adjectivefolk, adjectiveforeword, nounformulaic, adjectivefree verse, nounghost story, nounGothic, adjectivegrandiloquent, adjectivehaiku, nounheroic, adjectiveheroic couplet, nounhexameter, nounhumorist, nounhyperbole, nouniamb, nouniambic pentameter, nounimage, nounimagery, nouninformal, adjectiveingénue, nouninstalment, nounirony, nounjournal, nounlay, nounlimerick, nounlit., literary, adjectiveliterature, nounlyric, adjectivelyric, nounlyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounman of letters, nounmanuscript, nounmetaphor, nounmetaphorical, adjectivemetre, nounmetrical, adjectivemonologue, nounnarrative, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounnaturalistic, adjectivenom de plume, nounnovel, nounnovelist, nounnovella, nounnursery rhyme, nounode, nounonomatopoeia, nounpadding, nounpaean, nounparagraph, nounparaphrase, verbparaphrase, nounparenthetical, adjectivepassage, nounpathetic fallacy, nounpen name, nounpentameter, nounperiphrasis, nounperoration, nounpicaresque, adjectiveplaywright, nounplot, nounpoem, nounpoet, nounpoetess, nounpoetic, adjectivepoetic licence, nounpoet laureate, nounpoetry, nounpolemic, nounpolemical, adjectivepotboiler, nounprécis, nounpreface, nounprefatory, adjectiveprologue, nounprose, nounprosody, nounprotagonist, nounpseudonym, nounpulp, nounquatrain, nounquotation, nounquote, verbreading, nounrecite, verbrendition, nounrevise, verbrevision, nounrhetoric, nounrhyme, nounrhyme, verbromance, nounsaga, nounsatire, nounsatirist, nounscience fiction, nounscribbler, nounscript, nounself-portrait, nounSF, Shakespearean, adjectiveshort story, nounsimile, nounsoliloquy, nounsonnet, nounstanza, nounstilted, adjectivestory, nounstream of consciousness, nounstylist, nounsubplot, nounsubtitle, nounsuperhero, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivesynopsis, nountailpiece, nountale, nountalking book, nountearjerker, nountext, nountextual, adjectivetexture, nountheme, nounthriller, nountitle, nountragedian, nountragedy, nountragic, adjectivetragicomedy, nountrope, nounturgid, adjectiveunabridged, adjectiveverse, nounvignette, nounvolume, nounweepy, nounwell-turned, adjectivewhodunit, nounwriter, nounwriter's block, nounyarn, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives. Wagner calls his program ‘the worst talk show in America,’ without a hint of irony. Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives. Wagner calls his program ‘the worst talk show in America,’ without a hint of irony. British English (=a lot of irony) ‘Of course Michael won’t be late; you know how punctual he always is,’ she said with heavy irony.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES ‘Of course Michael won’t be late; you know how punctual he always is,’ she said with heavy irony. Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?· The bitter irony was that the whole plan had been her idea right from the start.· His work is thus marked with a bitter irony which permeated not only the substance of his theory but also its method.· And the bitterest irony of all was that he himself was a victim.· It was a bitter irony that he condemned her for loving a man who was out of reach.
· There is a certain irony about the events leading up to the 1954 Convention.· There is a certain irony in the Democrats' harmonious return to Chicago this week.· There was a certain look of irony in her expression, a mixture of shyness and sarcasm.· There is a certain irony in all this.
· By a cruel irony, it was the sixth anniversary of their engagement.· There was, indeed, a kind of cruel irony in the collapse of the irrigation companies.· This is a particularly cruel irony because as the 1911 census revealed doctors had the smallest families of all categories of occupations.
· The two basic forms of irony found in these tales are verbal irony and dramatic irony.· There's dramatic irony for you.· It was above all the smile of dramatic irony, of those who have privileged information.· It is a textbook for the study of dramatic irony in all its forms.
· It is one of the great ironies that Bourbon is a dry county.· That is the greatest irony of all.
· The intention is to curb the spread of package-tour baroque and heavy irony.
· He was a redoubtable debater with a caustic tongue in polemics and a nice touch in irony in writing.· There was a nice irony in steelworkers asking for the same interest rates.
· It was a Hardyesque situation, and one which added an element of tragic irony to my sorrow.· In a tragic twist of irony, Goldberg was taken seriously.· With a tragic irony she very nearly succeeded.
· To lose her now would be the ultimate irony.· And the ultimate irony about Saint-Mames is that that particular saint Saint-Mames is the patron saint of the stomach.· Perhaps the ultimate irony is that Stalinist-style Socialist Realism is now being sold in the West.· To me, it seemed the ultimate irony.· But our instinctive need to fill the vacuum inspires us to the ultimate irony: We turn 12 average citizens into killers.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[countable, uncountable] a situation that is unusual or amusing because something strange happens, or the opposite of what is expected happens or is true: - As the magazine with heavy sarcasm reported: Lady Betty adopted her new career with relish.
- The intention is to curb the spread of package-tour baroque and heavy irony.
Life is full of little ironies.tragic/cruel/bitter etc irony The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives.2[uncountable] when you use words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusingtrace/hint/touch of irony Wagner calls his program ‘the worst talk show in America,’ without a hint of irony.heavy irony British English (=a lot of irony) ‘Of course Michael won’t be late; you know how punctual he always is,’ she said with heavy irony.► see thesaurus at language → sarcasm, dramatic irony- water park
- water pipe
- water pistol
- water polo
- water power
- waterproof
- waterproofed
- water rat
- water-repellent
- water resistant
- watershed
- waterside
- water ski
- water skier
- water skiing
- water slide
- Waters, Muddy
- water softener
- water-soluble
- water sports
- waterspout
- water stress
- water table
- watertight
- water tower