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C1 · Advanced

Irony & Understatement

Vocabulary for dry humor, irony, and understatement: saying less than you mean or deliberately meaning the opposite of what you say.

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Words & phrases
33
Lessons
2
Conversations
1
Readings
1

A preview of what you’ll master

Words you’ll make your own.

Explore every meaning in this unit. Learn how to say it in Danish when you start.

English
  1. irony
  2. sarcasm
  3. understatement
  4. exaggeration, overstatement
  5. self-irony, self-deprecating humor
  6. to understate, to play down
  7. snide, barbed
  8. a snide remark, a dig
  9. double-edged, with a hidden meaning
  10. ironic
  11. dry humor
  12. litotes (rhetorical understatement)
  13. not bad at all
  14. not bad
  15. sort of, kind of
  16. a tad, a touch
  17. so-so, passably
  18. it's bearable, one can live with it
  19. It could have been worse.
  20. it's not the end of the world
  21. of course; it is the least one could do
  22. well I never, good grief
  23. oh lovely, oh yes indeed (often ironic)
  24. not exactly
  25. to mean the exact opposite
  26. One could have wished for more.
  27. dramatic irony
  28. situational irony
  29. verbal irony
  30. no small feat
  31. less than thrilled
  32. a masterclass in
  33. to poke fun at

Danish words, pronunciation, and practice are waiting inside your learning account.

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Your lessons, step by step.

2 Lessons
  1. Lesson 1

    Irony and Understatement

  2. Lesson 2

    Was That Praise or Irony?

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