irony Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun witty language used to convey insults or scorn
    sarcasm; satire; caustic remark.
    • he used sarcasm to upset his opponent
    • irony is wasted on the stupid
    • Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"--Jonathan Swift
  2. noun incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs
    • the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated
  3. noun a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs

WordNet

I"ron*y adjective
Etymology
From Iron.
Definitions
  1. Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles. R. in this sense iron is more common. Woodward.
  2. Resembling iron taste, hardness, or other physical property.
I"ron*y noun
Etymology
L. ironia, Gr. dissimulation, fr. a dissembler in speech, fr. to speak; perh. akin to E. word: cf. F. ironie.
Definitions
  1. Dissimulation; ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.
  2. A sort of humor, ridicule, or light sarcasm, which adopts a mode of speech the meaning of which is contrary to the literal sense of the words.

Webster 1913