ironic

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin īrōnicus (“ironical, mocking”),^[2][3][4] and partly ironique according to the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English.^[5][6] The Latin word comes from Ancient Greek εἰρωνικός (eirōnikós, “dissembling, feigning ignorance”),^[3][5][4] from εἰρωνεία (eirōneía, “dissimulation”),^[3][4] the source of irony, and that from εἴρων (eírōn, “dissembler”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of language or style, containing or marked by irony: 1614, in Bishop William Cowper's Dikaiologie.^[2] Etymonline dates the adjective to the 1620s,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 17th century;^[5] Merriam-Webster's first date, 1576, is close to that of the older form ironical, which Etymonline dates to the 1570s.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1631 Ben Jonson used ironic for feigned or dissembling, and the sense later narrowed to Socratic irony, a pretence of ignorance;^[2] Merriam-Webster marks "pretended" as obsolete.^[4] From 1674 the word could describe a person given to irony.^[2] The sense now most common, a situation or outcome strangely or cruelly at odds with what was expected, is recorded from 1889.^[2]

Timeline

• 1576 – first known use, according to Merriam-Webster.^[4]
• 1614 – containing or expressing irony;^[2] the 1620s in Etymonline.^[3]
• 1631 – feigned, dissembling.^[2]
• 1674 – of a person, given to irony.^[2]
• 1889 – of a situation, contrary to what was expected.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Expressing or using irony: He gave an ironic bow.
2. Of a situation or outcome, strangely or amusingly opposite to what was expected: It was ironic that the fire station burned down.
3. Of a person, given to irony.
4. (obsolete) Pretended, feigned.

Word family

• ironically
• ironicalness
• nonironic
• ironical

Related words

• dramatic irony
• Socratic irony
• irony

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press