Definition:
“A situation in a play when a character's words carry an extra meaning to the audience because they know more than the character, especially about what is going to happen.”
"Dramatic Irony." Oxford's Learners Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2022, www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/dramatic-irony#:~:text=%E2%80%8Ba%20situation%20in%20a,what%20is%20going%20to%20happen.
Informal Definition:
Dramatic irony is a literary technique in which the audience knows something that the characters don't.
Example - Girl in a horror movie hides in a room, not knowing that the killer is there with her. The audience knows that the killer is there, but the girl doesn’t.
Etymology:
Dramatic: Originated in the 1510s, from Late Latin drama "play, drama," from Greek drama (genitive dramatos) "action, deed; play, spectacle"
"Dramatic." Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001-2022 Douglas Harper, www.etymonline.com/word/dramatic#etymonline_v_29785. Accessed 5 Oct. 2018.
Irony: Originated in the 1500s, from Latin ironia, from Greek eironeia "dissimulation, assumed ignorance"
"Irony." Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001-2022 Douglas Harper, www.etymonline.com/word/ironic#etymonline_v_30098. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.
Thraya S