i‧ron‧y /ˈaɪərəni $ ˈaɪrə-/
noun (
plural ironies)
[
Date: 1500-1600;
Language: Latin;
Origin: ironia, from Greek eironeia, from eiron 'person who lies']
1. [uncountable and countable] a situation that is unusual or amusing because something strange happens, or the opposite of what is expected happens or is true:
Life is full of little ironies.tragic/cruel/bitter etc irony The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives.2. [uncountable] when you use words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing
trace/hint/touch of irony Wagner calls his program ‘the worst talk show in America,’ without a hint of irony.heavy irony British English (=a lot of irony) ‘Of course Michael won’t be late; you know how punctual he always is,’ she said with heavy irony. ⇒
sarcasm,
dramatic irony [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
dialect a form of a language that is spoken in one area of a country, with different words, grammar, or pronunciation from other areas:
Cantonese is only one of many Chinese dialects. the local dialectaccent the way that someone pronounces words, because of where they were born or live, or their social class:
Karen has a strong New Jersey accent. an upper class accentslang very informal spoken language, used especially by people who belong to a particular group, for example young people or criminals:
Teenage slang changes all the time. ‘Dosh’ is slang for ‘money’.terminology formal the technical words or expressions that are used in a particular subject:
musical terminology Patients are often unfamiliar with medical terminology.jargon especially disapproving words and phrases used in a particular profession or subject and which are difficult for other people to understand:
The instructions were written in complicated technical jargon. ‘Outsourcing’ is business jargon for sending work to people outside a company to do. The letter was full of legal jargon.metaphor a way of describing something by referring to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing:
The beehive is a metaphor for human society.simile an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words
as or
like, for example ‘as white as snow’:
The poet uses the simile ‘soft like clay’.irony the use of words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing:
‘I’m so happy to hear that,’ he said, with more than a trace of irony in his voice.bathos a sudden change from a subject that is beautiful, moral, or serious to something that is ordinary, silly, or not important:
The play is too sentimental and full of bathos.hyperbole a way of describing something by saying that it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is – used especially to excite people’s feelings:
In his speeches, he used a lot of hyperbole. journalistic hyperbolealliteration the use of several words together that all begin with the same sound, in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry:
the alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘sweet birds sang softly’imagery the use of words to describe ideas or actions in a way that makes the reader connect the ideas with pictures in their mind:
the use of water imagery in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ She uses the imagery of a bird’s song to represent eternal hope.rhetorical question a question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer:
When he said ‘how can these attitudes still exist in a civilized society?’, he was asking a rhetorical question. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲