ironize

American  

[ahy-er-nahyz] / ˈaɪ ərˌnaɪz /

especially British,, ironise

verb (used with object)

ironized, ironizing

1. to make ironical.

2. to add iron (to a substance).

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verb (used without object)

ironized, ironizing

1. to use irony or speak ironically.

ironize British  

/ ˈaɪrəˌnaɪz /

verb

1. (intr) to use or indulge in irony

2. (tr) to make ironic or use ironically

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Other Word Forms

• ironist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of ironize

First recorded in 1635–45; from Greek eirōnízesthai “to pretend ignorance, dissemble, understate; treat with sarcasm”; see origin at irony ¹ ( def. ), -ize ( def. )

Example Sentences

My self-deprecating commentary—“nothing more embarrassing than being complimented on your Twitter thread”—never quite manages to ironize itself out of what it is: a plea for attention among infinite other pleas for attention.

From The Verge • Sep. 12, 2018

I suppose its general intent is to serve for a woman who wants to distinguish, and perhaps to ironize, her participation in the entrenched trend of military wear by professing unconcern with style.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 21, 2018

It’s true that in her political writing she could slip into the kind of Earth Mother holiness that she loved to ironize in her fiction.

From The New Yorker • May 1, 2017

In Teutonic techno pokerface, the track makes Kraftwerk-like fun of smartphone marketing, a definite nose-tweak to Ocean’s sponsors at Apple, serving to ironize and queer the very medium that’s delivering the music.

From Slate • Aug. 22, 2016

To casually and sloppily take down, to ironize, to sneer comes very naturally to us, we can do it in our sleep, but to care, to try, to want, are harder.

From Slate • Oct. 27, 2011