Sarcasm
(This page forms part of a Course in Figures of Speech. You can find an introduction to it at Figures of Speech course. Sarcasm is one of the Figures of meaning, which is a set of Figures of speech grouped together for better understanding. This page can stand on its own, as well. You may have accessed it from a page on a particular example, or by a direct search.)
Sarcasm is, properly, the use of language to hurt the hearer’s feelings ("a bitter gibe or taunt" – Lanham). So the footballer who cries "Good shot!" when his team-mate misses an open goal is not only ironic, but sarcastic as well. So is the schoolboy who says to his companion, as the teacher catches them, "That was a really clever thing to do." But if the teacher says “You are idle, dishonest and incompetent†she is being sarcastic without being ironic. (Some teachers, of course, use irony mixed with sarcasm as their main disciplinary method.)
Sarcasm can be confused with both irony and satire, not least because it often goes together with them.
