Ironyとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

First attested in 1502. From Middle French ironie, from Old French, from Latin īrōnīa, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία (eirōneía, “irony, pretext”), from εἴρων (eírōn, “one who feigns ignorance”).

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈaɪə.ɹən.i/
• (米国発音) IPA: /ˈaɪ.ɹə.ni/, /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/

名詞

irony (countable and uncountable, plural ironies)

1. (rhetoric) The quality of a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context.
   • 1835, L[arret] Langley, “[The Seven Tropes.] Irony.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 11:

     Irony, saying what it ne'er intends,
     Censures with praise, and speaks to foes as friends.

   • 1994, David L. Hall, Richard Rorty: Prophet and Poet of the New Pragmatism, →ISBN, page 146:

     A principal virtue of Rorty's recognition of both the lightminded and the serious side of irony is to urge us in that direction.

   1. (countable) An ironic statement.
      • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 10 October 2021, retrieved 28 September 2013:

        It is one of the ironies of capital cities that each acts as a symbol of its nation, and yet few are even remotely representative of it. London has always set itself apart from the rest of Britain — but political, economic and social trends are conspiring to drive that wedge deeper.

      • 2025 September 8, Harlan Ullman, “Will America survive another 250 years?”, in The Hill‎:

        The second irony is that the only American who intuitively or otherwise grasps this reality and possesses a large enough ego potentially capable of governing in these circumstances is the president.

2. Dramatic irony: a theatrical effect in which the meaning of a situation, or some incongruity in the plot, is understood by the audience, but not by the characters in the play.
3. Socratic irony: ignorance feigned for the purpose of confounding or provoking an antagonist.
4. (informal) Contradiction between circumstances and expectations; condition contrary to what might be expected. [from the 1640s]

使用する際の注意点

• Some authorities omit the last sense, "contradiction of circumstances and expectations, condition contrary to what might be expected"; however, it has been in common use since the 1600s.
• Irony involving human folly is sometimes viewed as a highest or deepest form of irony, but the idea that it is the only true form of irony is prescriptive rather than descriptive. Defining the word is a challenging endeavor grappling with polysemy, as explored in the Wikipedia article at irony § The problem of definition.

派生語

関連する語

• ironically

参考

参照

語源 2

From 中期英語 hyrony, yreny, yrony, yrunny, equivalent to iron +‎ -y.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈaɪə.ni/
• (米国発音) IPA: /ˈaɪ.ɚ.ni/

形容詞

irony (comparative more irony, superlative most irony)

1. Of or pertaining to the metal iron.

   The food had an irony taste to it.

   The scrap yard had bins marked for irony aluminum, such as aluminum engine blocks not wholly cleaned of bolts, studs, brackets, and so on.

   • 1860, William Somerville Orr, The Circle of the Sciences, page 269:

     Thus in Cornwall, and many parts of Germany and France, in mineral districts, an irony appearance of a vein, where seen at the crop, is regarded as favourable.

   • 1916, Report, volume 24, New Hampshire. State Department of Health, page 256:

     E. W. Baker, Main St. - No odor, good appearance, slight irony taste; pressure weak. But water which had stood in wash pitcher some three or four days showed pronounced odor.

   • 1919, William Cowper Brann, The Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast, volume 11, page 41:

     There can be no doubt that persistent biking robs the female limb of its graceful contour and substitutes therefore the rugged protrusive muscles, the ungainly and irony look of the masculine leg.

   • 1927, “Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Royal Commission on Agriculture”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Great Britain. Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, page 210:

     It [overgrazing] eventually causes a particularly hard irony surface to the soil which is perfectly unmistakable once you have seen it , and also certain weeds which are also unmistakable once you have seen them.

   • 2012, Jenny Joseph, Led By The Nose: A Garden of Smells:

     Raspberries raw, stewing, jamming, pulping, take over my house during July, overlaying the richer, more irony smell of the blackcurrant – a contralto to a soprano.

   • 2016, Shazia Ameerun, A First Move:

     There was nothing left, besides just the pile of files on my desk, and the irony look on Catherine's face.

同意語

• ferric
• ferrous

名詞

irony (plural ironies)

1. (childish, dated) A kind of metallic marble.
   • 1968, Boys' Life, volume 58, number 5, page 10:

     And before the season's over millions of "glassies" and "aggies" or "ironies" will change hands, and thousands more will manage to get themselves lost.