# Can "ironical" and "ironic" be used interchangably in modern usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176 "2005-02-27T20:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/1 "2005-02-27T20:05:03Z")
Can they? ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/2 "2005-02-27T20:18:03Z")
To my ears “ironical” sounds just plain wrong, whereas “ironic” sounds perfectly acceptable, I’ve never heard anyone use “ironical” in conversation though, it sounds like a bastardisation from my viewpoint. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/3 "2005-02-27T20:43:10Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/4 "2005-02-27T20:50:06Z")
Ok, I take back my terse answer. According to multiple online dictionaries, “ironic” and “ironical” are synonyms. However, to my ear, “ironical” sounds _horrible_ and, if I heard someone use it in conversation, I would assume they weren’t particularly well-educated. Hmmm, I wonder if it’s a dialect thing. Does “ironical” sound OK to the Brit Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/5 "2005-02-28T00:36:58Z")
Doesn’t sound ok to this New Zealand doper ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/6 "2005-02-28T00:59:51Z")
American Heritage dictionary defines it thusly: i·ron·ic also i·ron·i·cal --adj. 1. Characterized by or constituting irony. 2. Given to the use of irony. See Synonyms at sarcastic. 3. Poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended: madness, an ironic fate for such a clear thinker. --i·ron“i·cal·ly adv. --i·ron“i·cal·ness n. So, apparently ironical is also correct. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/7 "2005-02-28T01:35:17Z")
I can’t pretend to represent the entire Canadian viewpoint, but for what it’s worth I wasn’t aware that ‘ironical’ was even a real word. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/8 "2005-02-28T04:17:02Z")
I’m with **Nanoda**. If a friend were to bring it up in conversation, I’d probably ask them about it. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/9 "2005-02-28T04:23:23Z")
I wouldn’t have believed that “ironical” was a word before this thread. I have never heard a real word some dumberer that that and I think that I would burst out laughing if someone said it in a serious manner. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/10 "2005-02-28T04:38:38Z")
I’m surprised that so few people know the word. Douglas Adams used it in HHGTTG. > [@](#): > > Marvin started his ironical humming again. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/11 "2005-02-28T07:38:08Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I wouldn’t have believed that “ironical” was a word before this thread. I have never heard a real word some dumberer that that and I think that I would burst out laughing if someone said it in a serious manner. I’ve only ever heard it used in order to be deliberately silly. Don’t do it if your goal is to be taken seriously, but if you wanna sound odd, go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/12 "2005-02-28T17:52:26Z")
That just ain’t right. I could see “ironical” if it was the adjective form of a noun but I don’t see any reason for it to exist. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/13 "2005-02-28T18:02:42Z")
Doesn’t sound right. Having said that it would make a great screen-name or nom de hip hop “And we have a new champion in the number one slot… Rumpshaka by Ironikal, off his debut album, ‘Ain’t it ironikal???’” ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/14 "2005-02-28T20:29:09Z")
It’s used extensively in, IIRC, Catcher in the Rye. I know this because I was openly mocking a friend for saying ‘ironical’, then looked it up in the dictionary to find it is a word. Since then, I have seen it everywhere. It still sounds silly to me, though. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ironical-and-ironic-be-used-interchangably-in-modern-usage/292176/15 "2005-02-28T21:44:05Z")
It sounds stupidish and redundantical to me.