Literary Irony

241 real-life examples of literary irony, submitted by readers and voted on by the community. Think you've spotted irony in the world of literary? Submit your own example.

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  1. Is it ironic that I had to explain the word comprehensible for a low literacy audience?

    67% not ironic 34 votes Vote →
  2. Is it ironic that The Gettysburg Address, perhaps the most famous Presidential speech of all time which is inscribed prominently on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial, includes the phrase "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.

    96% ironic 30 votes Vote →
  3. Is it ironic that The word 'monosyllabic' is made up of 5 syllables.

    71% not ironic 28 votes Vote →
  4. Is it ironic that "water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink" from Rime of the Ancient Mariner (he's on a boat in the ocean - salt water only).

    88% ironic 27 votes Vote →
  5. Is it ironic that Gilray kept pestering me with letters about his chrysanthemum.

    88% ironic 23 votes Vote →
  6. Is it ironic that When the boy who cried wolf for the third time (when there actually was a wolf), he was ignored by the people who had twice believed there was a wolf when there wasn't?

    75% ironic 19 votes Vote →
  7. Is it ironic that In the poem THE SNAKE by D H Lawrence,the poet throws a piece of log at the retreating snake even after continually praising the snake and behaving like the it was the poet's honor to have the snake,so majestic,at his place and all the while cursing the voices of education which told him to kill the snake? It would be better if you read the poem,we have a question in our literature text book regarding this,which I need to answer.

    84% ironic 16 votes Vote →
  8. Is it ironic that A company that makes lenses for glasses messed up an order by misreading the prescription?

    78% ironic 16 votes Vote →
  9. Is it ironic that Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451, is consistently on the top 100 list of banned books in the US.

    91% ironic 14 votes Vote →
  10. Is it ironic that Severus Snape is killed by a snake, his Hogwarts House mascot.

    53% ironic 13 votes Vote →
  11. Is it ironic that The only word that you spell right on a spelling test is "illiterate"?

    76% ironic 13 votes Vote →
  12. Is it ironic that Clary, from the mortal instruments city of bones, finds out that jace is a shadow hunter and completely judges him and is also frightened by him,when in fact she herself is a shadowhunter.

    61% ironic 12 votes Vote →
  13. Is it ironic that The author of the departmental newsletter writing about the news that she quit the newsletter team in a drunken rage.

    83% not ironic 12 votes Vote →
  14. Is it ironic that A grammatically incorrect sentence on an exam paper warning that points will be deducted for poor spelling and grammar.

    87% ironic 12 votes Vote →
  15. Is it ironic that In the poem "My Last Duchess", the persona - the Duke - hates his wife for having a 'spot of joy' on her cheek in reality, but then admires a painting of her which shows that exact trait? Is it ironic because the viewer would expect a person who admires a painting to love the object of the painting but he doesn't?

    76% ironic 11 votes Vote →
  16. Is it ironic that The author who wrote a book about the Malvern Hills is then reading the book itself on the Malvern Hills?.

    69% ironic 11 votes Vote →
  17. Is it ironic that A man with the last name Shakespeare is completely illiterate?

    65% ironic 11 votes Vote →
  18. Is it ironic that In a meeting with the Oracle at Delphi, the young heir to the throne of Thebes learns that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother.

    71% ironic 11 votes Vote →
  19. Is it ironic that A student spells every word on a spelling test wrong except for the word illiterate?

    88% ironic 10 votes Vote →
  20. Is it ironic that Someone says, "It's great to have pneumonoultamicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis!".

    84% ironic 10 votes Vote →
  21. Is it ironic that To have to read Mr Quiet (one of the Mr Men books)in a loud voice due to a childs temporary partial hearing loss?

    92% ironic 10 votes Vote →
  22. Is it ironic that Boo Radley is depicted in the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird as a murderous villain living in a spooky house...

    78% ironic 10 votes Vote →
  23. Is it ironic that All together is written separate and separate is written all together.

    76% ironic 9 votes Vote →
  24. Is it ironic that In "A Series of Unfortunate Events," Aunt Josephine, who is terrified of practically everything, lives in a house which hangs over the edge of a cliff.

    83% ironic 9 votes Vote →
  25. Is it ironic that Someone says "nescient isn't a word mate, just a lil tip 4 ya" when nescient means "lacking knowledge: ignorant" https://www.

    88% ironic 9 votes Vote →