When the audience of a TV show, play, etc. knows something a character doesn't. Popularized by William Shakespeare, and used extenseively in the TV series South Park
In this one episode of South Park, Cartman thinks he's dead because nobody is talking to him, but we know it's because they've decided to completely ignore him.
by Mike the Ekim August 29, 2005
Simply put, dramatic irony is when a person makes a harmless remark and someone else who hears it knows something that makes the remark have a different, and usually unpleasant, meaning. For instance, if you are in a restaurant and said out loud, "I can't wait to eat the veal marsala I ordered," and there were people around who knew that the veil marsala was poisoned and that you would die as soon as you took a bite, your situation would be one of dramatic irony.
Uncle Monty: "I promise that if you take time to learn the facts, no harm will come to you here in the Reptile Room."
As you and I listen to Uncle Monty tell the three Baudelaire orphans that no harm will ever come to them in the Reptile Room, we should be experiencing the strange feeling that accompanies the arrival of dramatic irony. This feeling is not unlike the sinking in one's stomach when one is in an elevator that suddenly goes down, or when you are snug in bed and your closet door suddenly creaks open to reveal the person who has been hiding there. For no matter how safe and happy the three children felt, no matter how comforting Uncle Monty's words were, you and I know that soon Uncle Monty will be dead and the Baudelaires will be miserable once again.
As you and I listen to Uncle Monty tell the three Baudelaire orphans that no harm will ever come to them in the Reptile Room, we should be experiencing the strange feeling that accompanies the arrival of dramatic irony. This feeling is not unlike the sinking in one's stomach when one is in an elevator that suddenly goes down, or when you are snug in bed and your closet door suddenly creaks open to reveal the person who has been hiding there. For no matter how safe and happy the three children felt, no matter how comforting Uncle Monty's words were, you and I know that soon Uncle Monty will be dead and the Baudelaires will be miserable once again.
by Daniel Handler January 18, 2011
Ex. Someone has a national champion Frisbee throwing trophy, and is going to throw you a Frisbee. When they throw it, it hits them in the face.
"Dramatic irony is very difficult to master when writing a story."
"It sure is!"
"Dramatic irony is very difficult to master when writing a story."
"It sure is!"
by Paddeloo March 2, 2017
by Annoying guest December 1, 2013