IRONY, a form of speech in which the real meaning is con cealed or contradicted by the words used (Gr. eipwv€La from E14)(.2)v, "one who says less than he means"). It is particularly employed for the purpose of mockery or contempt. The Greek word was used for an understatement in the nature of dissimula tion. It is especially exemplified in the assumed ignorance which Socrates adopted as a method of dialectic, the "Socratic irony" (see SOCRATES). In tragedy, what is called "tragic irony" is
the device of making a character use words which mean one thing to him and another to those acquainted with the real issue.