What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Irony vs Difference - What's the difference?

irony | difference |

As nouns the difference between irony and difference

is that irony is a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context while difference is difference.

As an adjective irony

is of or pertaining to the metal iron.

irony

English

(wikipedia irony)

Etymology 1

First attested in 1502. From (etyl) ironie, from (etyl), from (etyl) .

Noun

  • A statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context.
  • 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.
  • Ignorance feigned]] for the purpose of confounding or [[provoke, provoking an antagonist; Socratic irony.
  • {{cite news
  • , date=2008-06-30 , title=Isn’t It Ironic? Probably Not , first=Bob , last=Harris , newspaper=The New York Times citation , accessdate=2011-01-06 }} ironic], [[w:TheFreeDictionary.com, TheFreeDictionary.com], accessed 4 November 2011: The words ironic'', ''irony'', and ''ironically'' are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental" or "improbable," in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly. Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of ironically in the sentence ''In 1969 Susie moved from Ithaca to California where she met her husband-to-be, who, ironically, also came from upstate New York''. Some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband, in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us. By contrast, 73 percent accepted the sentence ''Ironically, even as the government was fulminating against American policy, American jeans and videocassettes were the hottest items in the stalls of the market , where the incongruity can be seen as an example of human inconsistency. Contradiction between circumstances and expectations; condition contrary to what might be expected.
    Usage notes
    * Some authorities omit the last sense, "contradiction of circumstances and expectations, condition contrary to what might be expected", however it has been in common use since the 1600s. irony, Online Etymology Dictionary
    Derived terms
    * dramatic irony * irony mark * ironic * ironical * ironist * Socratic irony
    References

    Etymology 2

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of or pertaining to the metal iron.
  • The food had an irony taste to it.
    Synonyms
    * ferric * ferrous

    difference

    English

    Noun

  • (uncountable) The quality of being different.
  • (countable) A characteristic of something that makes it different from something else.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=Towards the end of poverty
  • , date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}
  • (countable) A disagreement or argument.
  • We have our little differences , but we are firm friends.
  • * Shakespeare
  • What was the difference ? It was a contention in public.
  • * T. Ellwood
  • Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could.
  • (countable, uncountable) Significant change in or effect on a situation or state.
  • * 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows)
  • The line of the horizon was clear and hard against the sky, and in one particular quarter it showed black against a silvery climbing phosphorescence that grew and grew. At last, over the rim of the waiting earth the moon lifted with slow majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off, free of moorings; and once more they began to see surfaces—meadows wide-spread, and quiet gardens, and the river itself from bank to bank, all softly disclosed, all washed clean of mystery and terror, all radiant again as by day, but with a difference that was tremendous.
  • (countable) The result of a subtraction; sometimes the absolute value of this result.
  • (obsolete) Choice; preference.
  • * Spenser
  • That now be chooseth with vile difference / To be a beast, and lack intelligence.
  • (heraldry) An addition to a coat of arms to distinguish two people's bearings which would otherwise be the same. See augmentation and cadency.
  • (logic) The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.
  • (logic circuits) A Boolean operation which is TRUE when the two input variables are different but is otherwise FALSE; the XOR operation (\scriptstyle A \overline B + \overline A B).
  • (relational algebra) the set of elements that are in one set but not another (\scriptstyle A \overline B).
  • Synonyms

    * (characteristic of something that makes it different from something else) departure, deviation, divergence * (disagreement or argument about something important) conflict, difference of opinion, dispute, dissension * (result of a subtraction) remainder * (significant change in state) nevermind

    Antonyms

    * (quality of being different) identity, sameness

    Derived terms

    * distinction without a difference * creative differences * difference engine * difference equation * difference gate * difference of two squares * goal difference * same difference * split the difference * spot the difference * tell the difference

    See also

    * addition, summation: (augend) + (addend) = (summand) × (summand) = (sum, total) * subtraction: (minuend) ? (subtrahend) = (difference) * multiplication: (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (factor) × (factor) = (product) * division: (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient), remainder left over if divisor does not divide dividend

    Verb

    (differenc)
  • To distinguish or differentiate.
  • (en)

    Synonyms

    * (to distinguish or differentiate) differentiate, distinguish