irony: [16] Irony has no etymological connection with iron. It comes via Latin īrōnia from Greek eirōneíā, which signified ‘deliberately pretending ignorance, particularly as a rhetorical device to get the better of one’s opponent in argument’. This was a derivative of eírōn ‘dissembler’, which in turn came from the verb eírein ‘say’. This original sense of ‘dissimulation’ survives in the expression Socratic irony, a reference to Socrates’ use of such feigned ignorance as a pedagogical method, but it has been overtaken as the main sense of the word by ‘saying the opposite of what one means’.
irony (n.)
c. 1500, from Latin ironia, from Greek eironeia "dissimulation, assumed ignorance," from eiron "dissembler," perhaps related to eirein "to speak" (see verb). Used in Greek of affected ignorance, especially that of Socrates. For nuances of usage, see humor. Figurative use for "condition opposite to what might be expected; contradictory circumstances" is from 1640s.
irony (adj.)
"of or resembling iron," late 14c., from iron (n.) + -y (2).
雙語例句
1. There is a delicious irony in all this.
這一切中包含了一種絕妙的諷刺。
來自柯林斯例句
2. The phrase is loaded with irony.
此語滿含諷刺意味。
來自柯林斯例句
3. She said to him with slight irony.
她略帶嘲諷地對他說.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
4. Sinclair examined the closed, clever face for any hint of irony, but found none.