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.

Whether it’s a semi-ironic obsession with artisanal cheese-making, a random passion for sitar music or a stubborn preference for a flip phone, there are many wonderful contradictions about humans that algorithms can’t quite pin down.

From Salon • Sep. 26, 2025

Now fueled by money from venture capitalists including SoftBank, the investor that powered so many of the previous decade’s frothiest start-ups, Cameo could be so much more than just a quirky, semi-ironic video greetings business.

From New York Times • Oct. 20, 2023

Around 2020 an ongoing groundswell of semi-ironic Dan appreciation became a full-fledged revival — at least online, which in 2020 was technically where most things took place.

From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2023

The landscape The Dirt existed in was marked by a snarky, semi-ironic nostalgia for rock stars and “rock star behavior,” spanning roughly 1998 to 2007.

From Slate • Mar. 22, 2019

Semi-ironic cheers met his semi-ironic expression of an expectation that he would be asked the question: what had become of the calculations of 1853?

From The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 (of 3) 1809-1859 by Morley, John