Sarcasm

How to spell sarcasm

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce sarcasm

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sarcasm mean?

1. nounThe use of words that mean the opposite of what is intended, in order to mock, criticise, or wound.

Sarcasm in a sentence

• His reply dripped with sarcasm, and the whole team noticed.

• She relied on sarcasm to deflect questions about the missed deadline.

Where does sarcasm come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the Greek sarkasmos, a noun meaning 'a sneer' or 'bitter mockery', built on the verb sarkazein, which literally meant 'to tear flesh' and, by extension, 'to bite the lips in rage' or 'to speak bitterly'. That verb in turn came from sarx, the Greek word for flesh, the same root that survives in medical terms like 'sarcoma'. The vivid image is of words that bite or strip the flesh, which captures exactly the cutting, wounding tone the word still describes. It travelled into English in the mid 1500s by way of Late Latin sarcasmus and French sarcasme. The spelling trap is the soft middle 'c' (not a 'k') and the closing '-asm' rather than the more familiar '-asem' or '-azm', both inherited straight from the Greek and Latin forms.

How the word is built

• sarc- (from Greek sarx, flesh)
• -asm (noun-forming suffix denoting an act or state)