Definition of "irony"

irony¹

/ˈaɪə.ɹən.i/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural ironies
1. (rhetoric) The quality of a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context.
  Quotations
  Irony, saying what it ne'er intends,Censures with praise, and speaks to foes as friends.]
  Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, page 11
  1. (countable) An ironic statement.
2. Dramatic irony: a theatrical effect in which the meaning of a situation, or some incongruity in the plot, is understood by the audience, but not by the characters in the play.
3. Socratic irony: ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.
4. (informal) Contradiction between circumstances and expectations; condition contrary to what might be expected.

irony²

/ˈaɪə.ni/

adjective
comparative more irony, superlative most irony
1. Of or pertaining to the metal iron.
  Quotations
  Thus in Cornwall, and many parts of Germany and France, in mineral districts, an irony appearance of a vein, where seen at the crop, is regarded as favourable.
  1860, William Somerville Orr, The Circle of the Sciences, page 269
  E. W. Baker, Main St. - No odor, good appearance, slight irony taste; pressure weak. But water which had stood in wash pitcher some three or four days showed pronounced odor.
  1916, Report, volume 24, New Hampshire. State Department of Health, page 256
  There can be no doubt that persistent biking robs the female limb of its graceful contour and substitutes therefore the rugged protrusive muscles, the ungainly and irony look of the masculine leg.
  1919, William Cowper Brann, The Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast, volume 11, page 41
  It [overgrazing] eventually causes a particularly hard irony surface to the soil which is perfectly unmistakable once you have seen it , and also certain weeds which are also unmistakable once you have seen them.
  1927, “Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Royal Commission on Agriculture”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Great Britain. Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, page 210
  Raspberries raw, stewing, jamming, pulping, take over my house during July, overlaying the richer, more irony smell of the blackcurrant – a contralto to a soprano.
  2012, Jenny Joseph, Led By The Nose: A Garden of Smells
  There was nothing left, besides just the pile of files on my desk, and the irony look on Catherine's face.
  2016, Shazia Ameerun, A First Move

Definition of "irony"

irony1

noun

Quotations

irony2

adjective

Quotations

irony¹

irony²