(pl. -ies)［mass noun］
1- the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect反话, 讽刺：
'Don't go overboard with the gratitude,' he rejoined with heavy irony.
“不要感激得过了头,"他充满讥刺地回答道。
1.1
- a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result具有讽刺意味的事; 出乎意料的事情（或结果）; 令人啼笑皆非的局面; 嘲弄：
with clause the irony is that I thought he could help me.我还以为他能帮我, 这真是个讽刺。
1.2
- （亦作dramatic 或tragic irony）a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character戏剧性讽刺, 悲剧中的戏剧讽刺（文学技巧, 起源于希腊悲剧, 戏剧性讽刺使观众充分认识到剧中人物的语言或举动的意义, 而后者却一无所知）。
词源
early 16th cent. (also denoting Socratic irony)： via Latin from Greek eirōneia 'simulated ignorance', from eirōn 'dissembler'.