plural ironies
Definition of irony
1a
: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning
b
: a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony
c
: an ironic expression or utterance
2a(1)
: incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result
(2)
: an event or result marked by such incongruity
b
: incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play
— called also dramatic irony
3
: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning
— called also Socratic irony
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for irony
The first known use of irony was in 1502
See more words from the same year