irony
/ˈaɪrəni/
noun
- A situation in which something happens in a way that seems opposite to what you expected, often in a funny or strange way.
- She spent years saving for a beach vacation, only to have it rain every day — the irony was not lost on her.
- The irony is that the fire station burned down while the firefighters were out on a call.
- It was a cruel irony that the lifeguard nearly drowned in the pool.
- A way of speaking or writing in which you say the opposite of what you really mean, often for humorous or emphatic effect.
- "Oh, great, another flat tire," she said with heavy irony.
- The author uses irony to criticize the government's policies in a subtle way.
- His tone was dripping with irony when he called the broken elevator "perfect."
- A literary or theatrical technique in which the audience knows something that the characters do not, creating tension or humor.
- Shakespeare often used irony to make the audience feel more involved in the story.
- The movie's irony comes from the fact that the hero is actually working for the villain without knowing it.
- In the play, dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows the letter contains bad news, but the character reads it happily.
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