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挖苦是一种尖锐，直接而富有攻击性的表达方式。这种表达方式一般在嘲笑或辱骂他人时使用。^[1][2]在日常语言中，“挖苦”一词通常被认为和反讽有关^[3]，或者指出对方的自相矛盾之处^[4]，但实际上，挖苦不一定带有反讽^[5]。Dictionary.com认为挖苦是一种更严厉的嘲笑^[6]。

汉语中：《二十年目睹之怪现状》第四一回：“说是测字先生看《经世文编》，看来他还想做官，还想大用呢。从此就三三两两，时来挖苦。”

西方语言中，这个词来自于希腊语的 σαρκασμός（sarkasmos），后者又来自于 σαρκάζειν，本意是“活生生撕开，愤怒地咬下唇，冷笑”。

在英语中，此词在1579年出现，来自爱德华·斯宾塞的牧羊人日历（The Shepheardes Calender）。

1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary
2. ^ Boxer, D. 4 - 'Yeah right:' sociolinguistic functions of sarcasm in classroom discourse. Applying Sociolinguistics: Domains and Face-to-Face Interaction. John Benjamins Publications. 2002: 100. ISBN 978-90-272-1850-6. Only people can be sarcastic, whereas situations are ironic. 
3. ^ Fowler, Henry Watson. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. 1950. Sarcasm does not necessarily involve irony. But irony, or the use of expressions conveying different things according as they are interpreted, is so often made the vehicle of sarcasm ... The essence of sarcasm is the intention of giving pain by (ironical or other) bitter words 
4. ^ Rockwell, P. A. Sarcasm and Other Mixed Messages: The Ambiguous Ways People Use Language. Edwin Mellen Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7734-5917-5. 
5. ^ Partridge, Eric. Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English. Penguin Press. 1969. ISBN 0-393-31709-9. Irony must not be confused with sarcasm, which is direct: sarcasm means precisely what it says, but in a sharp, caustic, ... manner. 
6. ^ Irony. Dictionary. Dictionary.com. [2023-06-24]. （原始内容存档于2010-12-18）.