Word of the Day

: January 22, 2024

sarcasm

noun SAHR-kaz-um

What It Means

Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean one thing to communicate the exact opposite of that thing, especially to insult someone, to show irritation, or to be funny.

// Her monotone voice often made it difficult to tell whether or not she was using sarcasm.

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sarcasm in Context

“Without a doubt, the Beatles’ longevity is connected to their collective sense of humor, as well as other comic, comedic, and playful elements present in their musical, cinematic, and other visual texts. Four parts made a whole, with each member of the band versed in the comedic tools of irony, sarcasm, wordplay, and even nonsense.” — Katie Kapurch, et al., The Beatles and Humour, 2023

Did You Know?

Painful as it can be, a remark full of cutting sarcasm offers insight into the origins of the word. Sarcasm traces back to the Greek verb sarkázein, meaning “to jeer at while biting the lips.” Evidence is scant, but there is some suggestion that sarkázein may have had a fiercer original meaning: “to bite or strip off flesh.” Between sarkázein and the word we know today came the Greek noun sarkasmos, (“a sneering or hurtful remark”), iterations of which passed through French and Late Latin before arriving in English as sarcasm in the early 17th century. The adjective form sarcastic arrived a few decades later.