Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ironic” come from?

Ironic comes from Middle French ironique, from Latin ironicus, meaning "dissimulated, feigned."

ironic (English): Characterized by or constituting irony; Given to...

Definitions

  1. Characterized by or constituting irony; Given to...

Ancestry of “ironic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchironique—
2Latinironicus—
3Ancient Greekεἰρωνικός—
4Ancient Greek-ικόςof or pertaining to, in the manner of; -ic
5Ancient Greek-κόςforms adjectives with the sense of 'of or...
6Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “ironic”

  • ironically
  • ironical
  • unironic
  • unironically
  • nonironic
  • unironical
  • ironicalness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →