ironic

What it means

1. Characterized by or constituting (any kind of) irony.

   It's somewhat ironic to have a wave of smog right on Earth Day.

   3 more examples

   Chloe had once seen a real-life goth hanging around by a garbage bin in the high street and become incredibly excited. She really wanted to go over and ask her how to get started in the goth world, but she was too shy. Which was ironic, since shyness is something you need if you want to be a successful goth.

   2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN

   It was ironic I forgot my textbook on human memory.

   2014, Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century!, page 275

   It’s ironic that a member of a survey crew went missing […]

   2026 August 23, Aniket Chaughule, “Christopher Thompkins Vanished From a Georgia Survey Site in 2002. His Coworkers Were Only 50 Feet Away”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2026

   1. proscribedOdd or coincidental; strange.

      It's ironic that we are eating a sandwich in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

2. preceded with "being"Acting in an unserious and teasing manner.

   Don't take it personally. We're just being ironic.

In a sentence

It's somewhat ironic to have a wave of smog right on Earth Day.

Where it comes from

1. Ancient Greekεἰρωνικός
2. Late Latinīrōnicus
3. Englishironic

Borrowed from Late Latin īrōnicus, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνικός (eirōnikós). Compare Middle French, ironique, equivalent to irony + -ic.