Verbal Irony

Examples Help! What is the definition of Verbal Irony?

How do you define Verbal Irony? What is a Verbal Irony? The word derives from the Latin word 'ironia' meaning 'feigned ignorance'. Plural: Ironies. The definition of Verbal Irony is as follows:

 

English Grammar & Terminology Definition of Verbal Irony - a poetic device
Definition: A contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant

Verbal irony is implied and refers to spoken words only

Definition of Verbal Irony - a poetic device

Examples of Verbal Irony in Literature, Poems & Poetry

Poems with Verbal Irony examples can be found by the most famous poets and authors including Frost, Shakespeare and Hawthorne:

  • Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
    "Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
    And Brutus is an honourable man". Mark Antony really means that Brutus is dishonourable
  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne:
    Dimmesdale confesses to his congregation that he is the “worst of sinners.” but his congregation “did but reverence him the more”; they said that if “a saint on earth” could find sin in himself than they must truly be terrible. Dimmesdale wants the people to shun him as they did Hester, but they do and say the exact opposite.
  • The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost: The speaker knows he will tell the old story "with a sigh" of a choice that "made all the difference."
  • Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
    When Mr. Bennett refers to Wickham as perhaps his "favorite" son-in-law

Click the following links for more examples and information:

Dramatic Irony
Irony
Situational Irony

Examples Help! Use of Verbal Irony in Poems & Poetry

Examples of Verbal Irony can be found in many examples of the poem, poems or poetry. Famous poets use this figure of speech to convey and emphasize unusual and vivid images. The use of strong word association changes the mode of thought and adds variation, embellishment and adornment to literary works.

Examples Help - Figures of Speech - Verbal Irony

In Figurative Language we use words in such a way that they differ somewhat from ordinary every-day speech and convey meanings in a more vivid and impressive manner. Figures, like Verbal Irony make speech more effective, they beautify and emphasize it in Rhetoric which is the art of speaking and writing effectively. Figures of speech such as Verbal Irony use word association to convey emotion and mood often in a non-literal sense.

Examples Help! Using Verbal Irony

Figures of speech such as Verbal Irony adds adornment, beautifies, colors, elegant variation, embellishment, embroidery, emphasis, exaggeration, exclamation, flourish, floweriness, irony, lushness and luxuriance to the English language. This page providing facts and info about Figures of Speech will help with the understanding of this subject.

  • Free educational resource - Verbal Irony
  • Poem, Poems & Poetry - Verbal Irony
  • Word association to convey emotion and mood.
  • Definition, sample and example - poetic device
  • Figure of Speech in English Grammar
  • Definitions, info, samples and examples of different English Figurative Language
  • Verbal Irony - figure, image, trope
  • Word association to convey emotion and mood.
  • Definition, info, sample and example - figure, image, trope - Poetic device
  • Literature, Poems & Poetry - Verbal Irony
  • Examples Help!

Verbal Irony

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