Tikibu: pronunciation dictionary with use examples

Word: ironical
IPA transcription: [aɪɹ'ɑnɪkəl]
adverb meaning of the word
  • Synonyms: ironic, ironical
    Meaning: characterized by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is; "madness, an ironic fate for such a clear thinker"; "it was ironical that the well-planned scheme failed so completely"
  • Synonyms: dry, ironic, ironical, wry
    Meaning: humorously sarcastic or mocking; "dry humor"; "an ironic remark often conveys an intended meaning obliquely"; "an ironic novel"; "an ironical smile"; "with a wry Scottish wit"
Usage examples
  • 'A little mordant and ironical.'
  • Being thus ironical and bald, he was the leader.
  • This was clearly ironical, and had best be answered by irony.
  • There was an ironical tone in his voice which he could not quite disguise and which astonished the coadjutor.
  • Eugenio's tone apparently threw, even to Miss Miller's own apprehension, a slightly ironical light upon the young girl's situation.
  • Receiving this amiable greeting, he stood still in silence and with an ironical air watched his son going upstairs, till he passed out of sight.
  • On this point I will recall the fine ironical image used by Tyndall, the illustrious English physicist, to show the abyss which separates thought from the molecular states of the brain.
  • 'I think, Sheila,' replied a low, infinitely weary voice, 'I think I should marry again.' It was the same wavering, faintly ironical voice that had slightly discomposed Dr Simon that same morning.
  • He read, too, that Count Beist was rumored to have left for Wiesbaden, and that one need have no more gray hair, and of the sale of a light carriage, and of a young person seeking a situation; but these items of information did not give him, as usual, a quiet, ironical gratification.