Types of Irony

Microsoft's new Chief Executive Officer completes all of her work on an Apple Computer

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

As the teacher handed back our graded exams, the kid next to me muttered, “Great.”

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

In Star Wars, the audience knows that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father, but Luke doesn’t learn this until Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

A prisoner spends months digging an underground tunnel leading out of his cell. His plan is flawed, though, and he ends up emerging in the warden’s backyard, where he is promptly caught and returned to prison with additional time added to his sentence.

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

Even though a young couple dreamed of having a wedding amid beautiful flowers and butterflies at a nearby park, they were also worried that rain would ruin the event. Ultimately, they decided to have the wedding at a local banquet hall instead. Sure, the hall wasn’t very pretty, but at least they knew their guests would be comfortable, regardless of the weather. Halfway through the reception on the Big Day, the building’s ceiling sprinklers malfunctioned, drenching the guests and ruining the food and decorations; outside, it was clear and sunny.

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

In The Truman Show, a 1998 movie starring Jim Carrey, the main character doesn’t realize he’s living inside a TV show, but everyone else around him, including the audience, knows the truth.

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

One of my cousins used to constantly complain on social media about the uselessness of social media, but then she was “friended” on Facebook by a former classmate, a young man who eventually became her husband. They’ve been happily married for years.

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

On a TV talk show, viewers are told the real reason why a guest has been brought onto the show. He mistakenly thinks he’s there to talk about his job at a coffeeshop, but he’s really there to be gifted a full college scholarship.

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

• Dramatic Irony

Fahrenheit 451, a novel about the dangers of censorship (the banning of books/information), is one of the most-often banned books in the U.S.

• Dramatic Irony

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony

A police station was robbed.

• Dramatic Irony

• Situational Irony

• Verbal Irony