Tragic irony  Irony is a literary device that uses contradictory statements or situations to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true. Tragic irony is a form of irony found in tragedies such as Oedipus the King, in which Oedipus ironically ends up hunting himself. (See also, irony and tragedy.)

The definitions in this glossary were adapted from The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Sixth Edition, by Michael Meyer