Irony

Irony, linked to deception, feigned ignorance, is a situation, literary technique, or rhetorical device, in which there is a discordance, that goes strikingly beyond the most simple and evident meaning of words or actions.

Verbal and situational irony is often intentionally used as emphasis in an assertion of a truth.

The ironic form of simile, irony used in sarcasm, and some forms of litotes may involve the emphasis of one's meaning by deliberate use of language that states the direct opposite of the truth, or drastically and obviously understates a factual connection.

In fictional dramatic irony, the artist causes a character, acting as a mouthpiece, to speak or act in a way intentionally contrary to the truth. This again is a method that highlights the literal facts by giving the example of a fictional person who is strikingly ignorant of them.

In certain kinds of situational or historical irony that occur outside works of fiction, a certain factual truth is highlighted by some person's complete ignorance, or belief in the opposite, of it—however, this contrast does not occur by human design.

In some religious contexts, such situations have been seen as the deliberate work of divine providence to emphasize facts, and taunt or toy with humans for not being aware of them in situations where they could easily have been enlightened.

Ironies can also be alternatively used in poetry.