dramatic irony

American  

[druh-mat-ik ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er-nee] / drəˈmæt ɪk ˈaɪ rə ni, ˈaɪ ər ni /

noun

1. irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.

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dramatic irony British  

noun

1. theatre the irony occurring when the implications of a situation, speech, etc, are understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

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Etymology

Origin of dramatic irony

First recorded in 1905–10

Compare meaning

How does dramatic-irony compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• situational irony vs. dramatic irony

Example Sentences

Still, there’s a bittersweet dramatic irony at play because the reader can recognize that Camille is, at least sometimes, yet another of Sailor’s tools.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2025

In “Leopoldstadt,” Stoppard takes dramatic irony — the audience’s grasp of what the characters cannot see — to such an extreme that it becomes the subject itself.

From New York Times • Oct. 2, 2022

There is a great deal of dramatic irony around the timing for my book in a moment people are talking about nothing other than how apocalyptic everything feels.

From Salon • May 6, 2020

Even at this early point in the novel, the pages feel damp with dramatic irony.

From Washington Post • Jul. 9, 2019

Some love stories are tragedies—epics, spanning years, and built on dramatic irony, wars, Russian winters, and hours of film.

From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed