Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.
- n. A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.
- n. The use of sarcasm. See Synonyms at wit1.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A biting taunt or gibe, or the use of such a taunt; a bitter, cutting expression; a satirical remark or expression, uttered with scorn or contempt; in rhetoric, a form of irony; bitter irony.
- n. Synonyms Irony, etc. (see satire,) taunt, fling.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable A form of humor that is marked by mocking with irony, sometimes conveyed in speech with vocal over-emphasis. Insincerely saying something which is the opposite of one's intended meaning, often to emphasize how unbelievable or unlikely it sounds if taken literally, thereby illustrating the obvious nature of one's intended meaning.
- n. countable An act of sarcasm.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A keen, reproachful expression; a satirical remark uttered with some degree of scorn or contempt; a taunt; a gibe; a cutting jest.
WordNet 3.0
- n. witty language used to convey insults or scorn
Etymologies
- From Late Latin sarcasmus, from Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (sarkasmos, "a sneer"), from σαρκάζειν ("gnash the teeth (in anger), literally, to strip off the flesh"), from σάρξ (sarks, "flesh"). (Wiktionary)
- Late Latin sarcasmus, from Greek sarkasmos, from sarkazein, to bite the lips in rage, from sarx, sark-, flesh. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“avengers63, you forgot to use [sarcasm][\sarcasm].”
Cool Comic Cover Gallery 11/15 | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources
“The word sarcasm comes from a Greek word that means "to tear flesh".”
“The word sarcasm is from a Greek word that means "to tear flesh".”
“Mr. Smith says that for the future he will give up what he calls sarcasm, and confine himself, "as far as possible," to what he calls dry reasoning from incontrovertible premises.”
“If you'd ever heard the term sarcasm, my dear, I should think you were slipping something over on me.”
“(for the academically challenged community, the above is what we call sarcasm)”
“They are SIGNIFICANTly obnoxious, HIGH-RANKING when it comes to ignorance; DOMINANT – yes – in sarcasm and hate; LEADING in Stupidity; IMPORTANT when it comes to saying NO; POWERFUL within their own FAR-RIGHT noRIGHT jurisdiction and last but not least, PROMINENT in a way that shows just how much they are ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!”
“This means that, here at least, sarcasm is not a reliable form of reliable communication or even of reliable humor.”
“One, he said with sarcasm, is that “the GOI [government of Israel] forwarded the volunteer e-mail to the Bureau because they want to play by the rules.””
The Washington Post: Doxer case: Boston spy yarn with an unhappy ending
“Zoë herself is rather delightful, with a line in sarcasm that readers of her creator's blog will recognise.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sarcasm’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
INTERP - challenges
abbreviations, abstractness, abstruse terms, accent, activation of kno..., adequacy, allusions, arcane expressions, attention splitting, availability of i..., badly drafted speech, baroque sentences and 171 more...
-
allover
reintegrate, spight, surveillant, harmonize, Colophon, workplace, bigoted, unsighted, bridgework, salutation, voltmeter, octane and 159 more...
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
-
Types of Humor
dry wit, irony, sarcasm, black humor, blue humor, gallows humor, parody, Burlesque, satire, repartee, wit, deadpan and 12 more...
-
Ends in "-sm" but isn't an "ism"
pleonasm, prism, schism, orgasm, spasm, iconoclasm, chasm, enthusiasm, phantasm, ectoplasm, cytoplasm, aneurysm and 55 more...
-
meaty
sarcasm, carnal, flesh, fleshly, interlard, offal, sarcoma, meatspace, carnivorous syndrome, protocarnivorous, paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous and 32 more...
-
Terms for AP Lit
This list is designed to be a reference for my AP Lit. students
metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor, simile, litotes, satire, irony, sarcasm, invective, bathos, broadside, characterization and 28 more...
-
Favorite Words
symbologist, articulate, sushi, chinchilla, flagrant, cosmic, perforate, alacrity, gooseflesh, xenophobic, bamboozle, squirrel and 90 more...
-
ecbrenner's list
flatline, luddism, apocalipstick, muttsucker, leviathan of fore..., flint, coryphaeus, donnybrook, bandwidth, bagpipe the mizen, cheesed off, asterism and 525 more...
-
reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
-
SoSheShall's list
slurp, coeur, slurple, glop, perp, fluarxx, ropechno, herrherr, burrduhherrherr, sloppy, cheezie balls, eccentric and 634 more...
-
The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
-
Wharton, Edith. Age of Innocence. 1920
A list of difficult words for L2-12 learners.
Faust, erection, metropolitan, splendor, shabby, conservatives, cherished, inconvenient, clung, acoustics, coupe, scramble and 261 more...
-
ashton's Words
genocide, boingy, umwelt, zeitgeist, fungible, vorpal, spawn, discordian, fnord, surreptitious, xyzzy, corruption and 122 more...
-
SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sarcasm.
reesetee At last, everyone will know when we're being smartasses!
Jan 15, 2010
oroboros Related to sarcophagus, q.v., to wit: "biting the lips", cutting, wounding speech, designed to abase or belittle. Sep 26, 2007
jonodavis What, this is someone's favorite word? Gross. Jan 24, 2007