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# ironic

«ironic» in Mova's school dictionary: **the opposite of what you would expect, as in «It's ironic…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (ironic, more ironic)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Strange or funny because it is the opposite of what you would expect, as in «It's ironic that the fire station burned down». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#m1)

2) Saying the opposite of what you mean as a joke, as in an ironic «Great weather!» when it rains. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In English lessons: irony in stories and poems — the reader knows something characters don't (dramatic irony). In everyday talk: people say «ironic» for jokes that mean the opposite. It tells the reader there is a twist.

### examples

- It's ironic that the swimming teacher can't swim. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#x1)
- «Lovely day,» he said in an ironic voice as it poured. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#x2)
- It was ironic that the alarm clock made him late. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#x3)
- Her ironic comment made us laugh. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#x4)
- The story ends in an ironic twist. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#x5)
- It's ironic that the «No Litter» sign was lying on the ground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/#x6)

### note

Noun: irony; adverb: ironically. Trap: «ironic» is not the same as just bad luck or a coincidence — it needs a twist against expectation. It has nothing to do with iron the metal.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «ironic» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/ironic/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.