Source; the merriem webster site: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony
irony / noun
iro·ny ˈ"ī-rə-nē" also "ˈī(-ə)r-nē"
plural "ironies"
1.: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning
a writer's clever use of irony
She described her vacation with heavy irony as "an educational experience."
Irony in postwar art and culture started out the same way youthful rebellion did. It was difficult and painful, and productive …—David Foster Wallace
compare sarcasm
b: a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony
… Shakespeare, the great master of irony …—Nate Johnson
c: an ironic expression or utterance
… her ironies are carefully honed and often directed against herself.—Merle Rubin
2.:
a.
(1): incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result
The (awful/bitter) irony is that in trying to forget her, he thought of her even more.
The great irony of anthracite is that, tough as it is to light, once you get it lit it's nearly impossible to put out.—Bill Bryson
(2): an event or result marked by such incongruity
It is a cruel irony that small farmers … are among the world's hungriest people.—Kofi Boa and Roger Thurow
b.
literature: 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.:
Philosophy: 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.
