ironic

See also: irònic

English

Alternative forms

• ironick (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ironique, from Late Latin īrōnicus, from Ancient Greek εいぷしろんἰρωνικός (eirōnikós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪˈɹɒn.ɪk/

  • Audio (GB):

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• Audio (Mid-Atlantic):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnɪk

Adjective

ironic (comparative more ironic, superlative most ironic)

1. Characterized by or constituting (any kind of) irony.

   It's somewhat ironic to have a wave of smog right on Earth Day.

   • 2014, Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century!, p.275

     It was ironic I forgot my textbook on human memory.

2. (preceded with "be") Acting in a unserious and teasing manner.

   Don't take it personally. We're just being ironic.

3. Done in an insincere and mocking manner; satirical.

   You should assume that everything this guy posts is ironic.

4. (proscribed) Odd or coincidental; strange.

   It's ironic that we are eating a sandwich in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

Usage notes

Some writers complain about an overuse of the word ironic to extend to situations which are remarkable for reasons other than irony - perhaps just coincidental or merely odd.

Synonyms

• ironical

Derived terms

Derived terms

• dramatic irony
• ironical

• postironic
• Socratic irony

Translations

characterized by irony

• Bulgarian: ироничен (bg) (ironičen), подигравателен (bg) (podigravatelen)
• Catalan: irònic (ca)
• Czech: ironický (cs)
• Danish: ironisk
• Dutch: ironisch (nl)
• Esperanto: ironia (eo)
• Finnish: ironinen (fi)
• French: ironique (fr)
• German: ironisch (de)
• Greek: ειρωνικός (el) (eironikós)
• Hebrew: אִירוֹנִי m (iróni)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: ironico (it), sarcastico (it)
• Japanese: 風刺ふうし的てきな (fūshi-teki na)
• Latin: ironicus
• Occitan: ironic (oc)
• Polish: ironiczny (pl)
• Portuguese: irónico (pt) (Portugal), irônico (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: ironic (ro)
• Russian: ирони́ческий (ru) (ironíčeskij), ирони́чный (ru) (ironíčnyj)
• Slovak: ironický
• Spanish: irónico (es)
• Swedish: ironisk (sv)

See also

• Irony on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Cirino, oniric

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ironique, from Late Latin īrōnicus, from Ancient Greek εいぷしろんἰρωνικός (eirōnikós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [iˈro.nik]

Adjective

ironic m or n (feminine singular ironică, masculine plural ironici, feminine and neuter plural ironice)

1. ironic

Declension

Declension of ironic

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	ironic		ironică	ironici	ironice
	definite	ironicul		ironica	ironicii	ironicele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	ironic		ironice	ironici	ironice
	definite	ironicului		ironicei	ironicelor	ironicilor

Related terms

• ironie