ironical
AmericanOther Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ironical
Explanation
Something that's ironical is wryly funny, especially because it doesn't match up with your expectations. It would be ironical to name your enormous Great Dane "Tiny." You can describe this kind of humor, situation, or literary device as either ironical or ironic — in the US it's more common to use the latter. A famously ironical passage from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" goes like this: "Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” In other words, it's ironical that despite being surrounded by water, the mariner is thirsty. The word comes from the Greek eironikos, "putting on a feigned ignorance."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Knight has taken the novel’s Gothic elements and smeared them over whatever was light or comical or ironical in the original.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
Katia, birdlike and ironical, kept track of the data and took the still photographs, while Maurice, who resembles a curly-headed lion cub, gave public lectures and wielded the movie camera.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2022
Robertson’s raised eyebrows and perpetual half smile gave him an ironical appearance.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 1, 2018
It was, Notaro recalls in a deadpan voice that hovers between ironical understatement and embarrassment about all the drama, “a pretty crazy time”.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 11, 2016
Even his spectacles seemed to wear an ironical gleam.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
