Satire vs. Irony: What’s the Difference?

Main Difference

The main difference between Satire and Irony is that the Satire is a genre of arts and literature in the form of humor or ridicule and Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is an incongruity between the literal and the implied meaning

• Satire

  In fiction and less frequently in non-fiction, satire is a genre of literature and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.

  A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—”in satire, irony is militant”—but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This “militant” irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question.

  Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary, television shows, and media such as lyrics.

• Irony

  Irony (from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning ‘dissimulation, feigned ignorance’), in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event in which what appears, on the surface, to be the case, differs radically from what is actually the case.

  Irony can be categorized into different types, including: verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Verbal, dramatic, and situational irony are often used for emphasis in the assertion of a truth. The ironic form of simile, used in sarcasm, and some forms of litotes can emphasize one’s meaning by the deliberate use of language which states the opposite of the truth, denies the contrary of the truth, or drastically and obviously understates a factual connection. Other forms, as identified by historian Connop Thirlwall, include dialectic and practical irony.

• Satire (noun)

  A ridicules its provoking or Humor, irony, and exaggeration are often used to aid this.

• Satire (noun)

  A satirical work.

  “a stinging satire of American politics.”

• Satire (noun)

  Severity of remark.

• Irony (noun)

  A humorous context.

• Irony (noun)

  Dramatic irony: a theatrical effect in which the meaning of a situation, or some incongruity in the plot, is understood by the audience, but not by the characters in the play.

• Irony (noun)

  Ignorance feigned for the purpose of provoking an antagonist; Socratic irony.

• Irony (noun)

  The state of two usually unrelated entities, parties, actions, etc. being related through a common connection in an uncommon way.

• Irony (noun)

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• Irony (adjective)

  Of or pertaining to the metal iron.

  “The food had an irony taste to it.”

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