First attested in 1502. From Middle French ironie, from Old French -, from Latin īrōnīa, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία, from εἴρων ("one who feigns ignorance").

• (RP) IPA: /ˈaɪə.ɹən.i/
• (America) IPA: /ˈaɪ.ɹə.ni/, /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/

irony

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.
   • 1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, →OCLC ↗, page 11 ↗:

     Irony, saying what it ne'er intends,
     Censures with praise, and speaks to foes as friends.

   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. [from the 1640s]

• ironically

• French: ironie
• German: Ironie
• Italian: ironia, paradosso
• Portuguese: ironia
• Russian: иро́ния
• Spanish: ironía

• French: ironie du sort
• German: Ironie
• Portuguese: ironia
• Russian: иро́ния
• Spanish: ironía

• (RP) IPA: /ˈaɪə.ni/
• (America) IPA: /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/

irony

1. Of or pertaining to the metal iron.

   The food had an irony taste to it.

• ferric
• ferrous

• French: ferreux
• Portuguese: ferroso
• Spanish: férreo