Ironic 和 sarcastic 這兩個形容詞均有「諷刺的」意思，但兩者的含意並不相同，使用時不可不慎。譬如說，在 The teacher’s sarcastic comment about Cindy’s essay made her cry. (老師對辛蒂作文的嘲諷評論使她哭了起來) 這句中，sarcastic 不能用 ironic 來代替，因為 sarcastic 表示苟刻傷人的嘲諷。
Ironic 意為「諷刺的，具有諷刺意味的」，表示用反話來表達與其字面意思相異或相反的反諷，指比較無傷大雅，比較幽默、揶揄的諷刺，如 John had a habit of making ironic remarks. (約翰有說帶諷刺意味的話的習慣)；It was ironic that Gary was run over by his own car. (蓋瑞竟被自己的車子輾過，真是諷刺)；She has written several ironic novels. (她已寫了數本諷刺小說)；She met his eyes with an ironic little smile. (她對他報以揶揄的淺笑)。
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