dramatic irony
noun
plural dramatic ironies
literature
: a literary device that creates an incongruity between what the characters know and what the audience knows thereby giving different and often contradictory meanings to the characters' words and actions : irony sense 2b
All the other doctors are knownothing quacks; that the audience has more medical knowledge than they is but one example of the dramatic irony which is a feature of Alan Bennett's brilliant script.—Alan Geary
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“Dramatic irony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dramatic%20irony. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.
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