Critics claim the words irony and ironic as they are used in cases lacking a striking reversal, such as “Isn’t it ironic that you called just as I was planning to call you?,” are more properly called coincidence. Situational irony involves a striking reversal of what is expected or intended: a person sidesteps a pothole to avoid injury and in doing so steps into another pothole and injures themselves. The third, and debated, use of irony regards what’s called situational irony. Socratic irony is a tool used in debating dramatic irony is what happens when the audience realizes that Romeo and Juliet’s plans will go awry.

The other refers to dramatic irony or tragic irony-an incongruity between the situation in a drama and the words used by the characters that only the audience can see. One refers to Socratic irony-a method of revealing an opponent’s ignorance by pretending to be ignorant yourself and asking probing questions. Irony has two formal uses that are not as common in general prose as its more casual uses. Here are the facts about how the word irony is used.

Considerable thought is given to what events constitute “true” irony, and the dictionary is often called upon to supply an answer.

Irony flat character definition