Virtuous English AcademyHumour, Wit & Irony — C1 English Vocabulary
This C1 vocabulary list gathers 60 advanced English words about humour, wit & irony — jokes, satire and the comic register. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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wit/wɪt/
The ability to say clever and amusing things.
“She is famous for her wit.”
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humorous/ˈhjuː.mər.əs/
Funny and amusing.
“He wrote a humorous essay.”
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ironic/aɪˈrɒn.ɪk/
Meaning the opposite of what is said, often for effect.
“It is deeply ironic.”
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sarcasm/ˈsɑː.kæz.əm/
Saying the opposite of what you mean to mock someone.
“His sarcasm can be hurtful.”
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sarcastic/sɑːˈkæs.tɪk/
Using words to mock in a bitter way.
“She gave a sarcastic reply.”
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satirical/səˈtɪr.ɪ.kəl/
Using humour to criticise faults.
“It is a satirical cartoon.”
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parody/ˈpær.ə.di/
A funny imitation of a style or work.
“The sketch is a parody of the news.”
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pun/pʌn/
A joke using words with two meanings.
“He loves a good pun.”
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banter/ˈbæn.tə/
Friendly, playful teasing.
“There was friendly banter.”
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quip/kwɪp/
A clever, witty remark.
“She made a clever quip.”
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jest/dʒest/
A joke, or to speak in a joking way.
“He said it in jest.”
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mockery/ˈmɒk.ər.i/
The act of making fun of someone.
“His tone was full of mockery.”
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ridicule/ˈrɪd.ɪ.kjuːl/
Unkind laughter aimed at someone.
“She faced public ridicule.”
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farce/fɑːs/
A silly comedy, or a ridiculous situation.
“The trial became a farce.”
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comical/ˈkɒm.ɪ.kəl/
Funny in an amusing way.
“He made a comical face.”
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hilarious/hɪˈleə.ri.əs/
Extremely funny.
“The film was hilarious.”
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amusing/əˈmjuː.zɪŋ/
Making you smile or laugh.
“It was an amusing story.”
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droll/drəʊl/
Amusing in an odd or dry way.
“He has a droll sense of humour.”
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facetious/fəˈsiː.ʃəs/
Trying to be funny about a serious matter.
“Stop being facetious.”
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tongue-in-cheek/ˌtʌŋ.ɪnˈtʃiːk/
Said as a joke, not meant seriously.
“The remark was tongue-in-cheek.”
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deadpan/ˈded.pæn/
Showing no emotion while saying something funny.
“She has a deadpan delivery.”
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whimsical/ˈwɪm.zɪ.kəl/
Playfully odd or fanciful.
“It is a whimsical tale.”
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lampoon/læmˈpuːn/
To publicly mock someone with humour.
“Cartoonists love to lampoon the mayor.”
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caricature/ˈkær.ɪ.kə.tʃʊə/
An exaggerated drawing or description for comic effect.
“The drawing is a caricature.”
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levity/ˈlev.ɪ.ti/
Humour used in a serious situation.
“A moment of levity broke the tension.”
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mirth/mɜːθ/
Happiness and laughter.
“The joke caused great mirth.”
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jovial/ˈdʒəʊ.vi.əl/
Cheerful and friendly.
“He is a jovial old man.”
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jocular/ˈdʒɒk.jə.lə/
Fond of joking; humorous.
“He made a jocular comment.”
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chuckle/ˈtʃʌk.əl/
To laugh quietly.
“She gave a quiet chuckle.”
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giggle/ˈɡɪɡ.əl/
To laugh in a silly, nervous way.
“The children began to giggle.”
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snigger/ˈsnɪɡ.ə/
To laugh quietly in a mean way.
“He tried not to snigger.”
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guffaw/ɡʌˈfɔː/
To laugh loudly.
“He let out a loud guffaw.”
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hilarity/hɪˈlær.ɪ.ti/
Great amusement and laughter.
“The remark caused hilarity.”
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wisecrack/ˈwaɪz.kræk/
A quick, clever, joking remark.
“He made a quick wisecrack.”
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repartee/ˌrep.ɑːˈtiː/
Quick, witty conversation.
“Their repartee was sharp.”
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ribbing/ˈrɪb.ɪŋ/
Gentle teasing.
“He took the ribbing well.”
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teasing/ˈtiː.zɪŋ/
Making fun of someone in a playful way.
“It was only gentle teasing.”
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prank/præŋk/
A trick played on someone for fun.
“They played a harmless prank.”
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antics/ˈæn.tɪks/
Silly or amusing behaviour.
“His antics amused everyone.”
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buffoon/bəˈfuːn/
A person who behaves in a ridiculous way.
“He acted like a buffoon.”
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absurd/əbˈsɜːd/
Completely silly and unreasonable.
“The whole idea is absurd.”
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ludicrous/ˈluː.dɪ.krəs/
So foolish it is laughable.
“It was a ludicrous suggestion.”
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preposterous/prɪˈpɒs.tər.əs/
Completely unreasonable and ridiculous.
“What a preposterous claim!”
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farcical/ˈfɑː.sɪ.kəl/
Absurd and ridiculous.
“The situation was farcical.”
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wry/raɪ/
Showing dry, clever humour.
“He gave a wry grin.”
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impish/ˈɪm.pɪʃ/
Playfully mischievous.
“She has an impish grin.”
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playful/ˈpleɪ.fəl/
Full of fun and good humour.
“His tone was playful.”
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lighthearted/ˌlaɪtˈhɑː.tɪd/
Cheerful and not serious.
“It was a lighthearted chat.”
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amuse/əˈmjuːz/
To make someone laugh or smile.
“The story will amuse you.”
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scoff/skɒf/
To speak about something with mocking laughter.
“They scoff at every new plan.”
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jeer/dʒɪə/
To shout mocking remarks.
“The crowd began to jeer.”
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taunt/tɔːnt/
To try to make someone angry with insulting remarks.
“He ignored the taunt.”
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gibe/dʒaɪb/
An insulting, mocking remark.
“She made a cruel gibe.”
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derision/dɪˈrɪʒ.ən/
Mocking laughter and contempt.
“His plan met with derision.”
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flippant/ˈflɪp.ənt/
Not showing proper seriousness.
“He gave a flippant answer.”
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comedian/kəˈmiː.di.ən/
A person whose job is to make people laugh.
“The comedian had us laughing.”
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punchline/ˈpʌntʃ.laɪn/
The final part of a joke that makes it funny.
“He forgot the punchline.”
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anecdote/ˈæn.ɪk.dəʊt/
A short, amusing true story.
“She told a funny anecdote.”
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witticism/ˈwɪt.ɪ.sɪ.zəm/
A clever and amusing remark.
“She added a clever witticism.”
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humour/ˈhjuː.mə/
The quality of being amusing.
“He has a great sense of humour.”
Using humour, wit & irony words in English
The most useful distinction on this page is one that native speakers get wrong daily: irony, sarcasm and satire are three different things, and only one of them is a form of writing. Getting them apart is genuinely worth the effort, because the words appear constantly in criticism and in exam reading passages. The page also covers banter, which is far more British than most learners realise.
What to watch out for
Irony, sarcasm, satire
Irony is a gap between what is said and what is meant, or between what is expected and what happens. Sarcasm is irony used to wound — it is aimed at someone and carries contempt: Oh, brilliant. Satire is a form or genre that mocks something in order to criticise it, and it can be a whole novel or programme. So all sarcasm is ironic, but very little irony is sarcastic.
Ironic does not mean coincidental
A genuine irony requires the reversal of an expectation: the fire station burned down is ironic. Two unrelated things happening at once is merely a coincidence, however striking. This is the single most disputed usage in English, and while the loose sense is now widespread in speech, an examiner marking a literature answer will expect the strict one.
Banter, quip, jest, parody
Banter is the exchange of teasing remarks between people who like each other, and it is markedly British — it is uncountable and takes no plural. A quip is one clever remark. Jest is archaic outside the phrase in jest. A parody imitates a specific work to mock it, while a farce is a comedy of absurd situations, and the word extends to any ridiculous real event.
Words learners mix up
English has an unusually large vocabulary for being funny, and the words are not interchangeable: they encode how clever the remark was, how cruel it was, and how loud the laugh was. Here are the three clusters, each with the kind of example the word actually describes.
Five kinds of funny remark
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| pun | A play on two meanings of the same sound. Groaned at rather than laughed at, which is part of the form. | A shop selling fireplaces called Grate Expectations. |
| quip | One short, clever remark made quickly in response to something. | Asked if he was worried, he quipped that he had stopped reading the polls. |
| witticism | A remark admired for its cleverness, usually reported afterwards and often attributed to a named person. More self-conscious than a quip. | The speech was a string of well-rehearsed witticisms. |
| wisecrack | A flippant, slightly cheeky remark. Lower-status and more American in flavour than the others. | He could not resist a wisecrack about the catering. |
| repartee | Not one remark but the whole rapid exchange of them, back and forth. Uncountable, and keeps its French pronunciation. | The repartee between the two leads carries the film. |
The unifying idea is wit — cleverness with language, the quality behind all five. That is why wit is praise for a person and witty praise for a line, while humorous merely reports that something was meant to amuse.
Laughing at somebody, from gentle to cruel
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| teasing | Light provocation of someone you are fond of. The mildest word here, and the only affectionate one. | Constant teasing about his accent, all of it good-natured. |
| ribbing | Teasing among a group who know each other well — informal, British, and close to banter. | He took a fair amount of ribbing in the changing room. |
| mockery | Imitating someone to make them look foolish. No longer friendly. Also used of a thing that is a travesty of what it claims to be. | The trial was a mockery of justice. |
| ridicule | Public contempt expressed as laughter. Usually something a person is exposed to or held up to. | The proposal was held up to ridicule in the press. |
| derision | The scornful reaction itself — the sound of a crowd that has stopped taking you seriously. The strongest of the five. | His answer was greeted with open derision. |
The verbs sort the same way: tease is affectionate, scoff at dismisses an idea, jeer is a hostile crowd, and taunt means provoking someone deliberately and repeatedly. A gibe is a single cutting remark.
Four ways of laughing
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| chuckle | Quiet, low, often to yourself. Amusement rather than hilarity. | He chuckled at something in his newspaper. |
| giggle | High, light and repeated, usually when you are trying not to. Associated with children and with nerves. | The pair giggled all the way through the ceremony. |
| snigger | Half-suppressed and unkind — laughing at someone who can see you doing it. British; American English says snicker. | Somebody sniggered at the back of the room. |
| guffaw | Loud, sudden and coarse. Almost always found in writing describing a laugh, not in speech. | A great guffaw went up from the bar. |
Only snigger carries a judgement about the laugher. If you need a neutral collective noun for the sound of a room enjoying itself, that is mirth or hilarity, both uncountable.
Collocations that sound natural
Most of the nouns here demand a particular adjective, and the adjective carries the meaning. Dry humour and black humour are two different things, and neither is simply humour that is dry or black.
wit
dry witquick witrazor-sharp wita flash of wita battle of wits
Dry wit means delivered without any signal that a joke is being made — the same idea as deadpan.
humour
a sense of humourdry humourblack humourgallows humourgood-humoured
Black humour finds comedy in death and disaster; gallows humour is that joking done by the people actually in danger. Note the British spelling: humour, humorous — the u drops in the adjective even in British English.
sarcasm
heavy sarcasmdripping with sarcasma hint of sarcasmlost on him
Sarcasm that is not recognised is lost on somebody: the irony was completely lost on her.
levity
a moment of levityinject some levitya note of levityunseemly levity
Nearly always used where seriousness was expected — which is why the word appears so often in reports of funerals and courtrooms.
derision
greeted with derisionhowls of derisionan object of derisiona note of derision
prank
play a prank on somebodyan elaborate pranka harmless pranka prank call
The verb is play, and the preposition is on — never to.
Formal, neutral or informal?
This is a topic where using the right word in the wrong setting does real damage: several of these are affectionate among friends and insulting from a stranger, and three of them will simply date you.
- banterInformal · BritishEveryday in Britain, uncountable, and now slightly loaded — it was only banter is the standard defence for a remark that landed badly.
- facetiousNegativeTreating a serious matter as a joke when you should not be. Almost always a criticism: don’t be facetious. Never a compliment, unlike witty.
- flippantNegativeNot taking something seriously enough, especially in an answer: a flippant reply to a fair question. Milder than facetious but still disapproving.
- drollDated · literaryAmusing in an odd, understated way. Alive in written criticism, but saying it aloud sounds like a period drama.
- jocularFormal · datedA formal word for cheerful joking, found in old-fashioned prose and reports. Jovial is its close cousin and describes a person’s whole manner rather than a remark.
- mirthLiteraryUncountable, and belongs to narrative prose: the room was full of mirth. In conversation you would just say everyone was laughing.
- tongue-in-cheekNeutralHyphenated before a noun, and safe in any register — it flags that a remark was not meant seriously without accusing anyone of anything.
- wisecrackInformal · AmericanUnderstood everywhere but distinctly American in flavour. The British equivalent in most sentences is quip.
Sentences to try
Four frames separating the three ideas. Check which one is a form and which are effects.
- The novel is a satirical attack on the publishing industry.
- Her tone was heavy with sarcasm.
- There is a bitter irony in the timing of the announcement.
- The whole proceeding descended into farce.
Questions about humour, wit & irony vocabulary
What is the difference between irony, sarcasm and satire?
Irony is the general phenomenon: a gap between what is said and what is meant, or between what is expected and what occurs. Sarcasm is a particular use of verbal irony directed at a person, with the intention to mock or wound — it needs a target and a tone. Satire is not a remark at all but a form of art or writing that uses humour, irony and exaggeration to criticise something, usually institutions or public figures. A sentence can be sarcastic; a novel or a television programme can be satirical.
Does "ironic" mean coincidental?
Not in careful usage. True irony involves a reversal of expectation — a lifeguard who cannot swim, a safety inspector injured by a faulty rail. Two things merely happening at the same time, however striking, is coincidence. This has become one of the most argued-over points in English usage, and the loose sense is now extremely common in speech and recorded in many dictionaries. In literary analysis and in exams, though, the strict meaning is what will be expected, along with the related terms dramatic irony and situational irony.
What does "banter" mean in British English?
Playful, teasing conversation between people on friendly terms — an exchange of light insults that signals closeness rather than hostility: There is a lot of banter in that office. It is uncountable, so it never takes a plural or an article, and it is distinctly British in frequency. Note that the word has acquired a slightly defensive edge in recent years, since it was just banter is a common excuse for remarks that were not received as friendly at all.