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sardonic

Adjective
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Grimly mocking, cynical, or bitterly sarcastic; characterizes a tone of voice or humor that conveys disdainful scorn in verse.

Detailed Definition
Sardonic describes a grim, cutting kind of humor or mockery. Here it gives the rat a darkly amused personality, fitting the poem’s ironic wartime tone.
Example
Example in poetry:
“A queer sardonic rat,” uses sardonic for grimly mocking or scornful; sardonic humor can expose cruelty beneath a joke; Pope’s satirical speakers often adopt cutting, sardonic tones; “her sardonic laugh met the campaign promise” places the adjective in contemporary political satire
Additional Notes
“Sardonic” in “A queer sardonic rat” is a less common literary adjective that some readers may not know immediately.; Found in the poem, Break of Day in the Trenches by Isaac Rosenberg
Also Known As
sarcastic cynical ironic scornful
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