Word · CEFR C1 · Frequency #5633
irony
反语；讽刺；具有讽刺意味的事
witty language used to convey insults or scorn; a state of affairs that is the opposite of what is expected
- 1.
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.
戏剧性反讽:观众理解情节中的意义或不协调,而剧中人物不理解。
- 2.
witty language used to convey insults or scorn; ; ; --Jonathan Swift
用来表达侮辱或轻蔑的机智语言；
- 3.
Socratic irony: ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.
苏格拉底式反讽:假装无知以困惑或激怒对手。
- 4.
incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs
预期与实际发生之间的不一致；
- 5.
a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
涉及预期与实际发生之间不一致的修辞手法。
戏剧性反讽:观众理解情节中的意义或不协调,而剧中人物不理解。；用来表达侮辱或轻蔑的机智语言；；苏格拉底式反讽:假装无知以困惑或激怒对手。；预期与实际发生之间的不一致；；涉及预期与实际发生之间不一致的修辞手法。
In use
The irony of the situation is that the fire station burned down.
He used irony when he said, 'What a beautiful day' during the storm.
Life is full of ironies, like a traffic jam on the way to a 'Save the Planet' conference.
irony is wasted on the stupid
the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated
irony is that + clause
用于引出具有讽刺意味的事实。
The irony is that he became a billionaire by selling cheap products.
讽刺的是，他靠卖廉价商品成了亿万富翁。
the irony of (sth)
后接名词或动名词，表示某事物的讽刺性。
Connections
Collocations
- dramatic irony
- 戏剧性讽刺
- The audience knew the truth, but the character did not; that is dramatic irony.观众知道真相，但角色不知道；这就是戏剧性讽刺。
- situational irony
- 情境讽刺
- It was a case of situational irony when the fire station burned down.消防站被烧毁，这是一个情境讽刺的例子。
- sense of irony
- 讽刺感
- She has a keen sense of irony and often makes witty remarks.她有很强的讽刺感，经常说些机智的话。
- bitter irony
- 苦涩的讽刺
- The bitter irony of his success was that he lost his health.他成功的苦涩讽刺是他失去了健康。
- tragic irony
- 悲剧性讽刺
- The play is full of tragic irony as the hero's actions lead to his downfall.该剧充满了悲剧性讽刺，因为主角的行为导致了他的垮台。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
现实与预期的反差
Context & Register
register: mixed; typical contexts: literary criticism, everyday conversation, news media
Pronunciation & Spelling
Each word ends with '-ny' (/ni/), but the vowel sounds in the stressed syllable differ from 'irony' (/aɪrəni/). For example, 'phony' has /foʊni/ and 'balcony' has /bælkəni/. Warning: 'iron' is a lookalike but is pronounced /aɪərn/.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 2，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY.