Irony or sarcasm: a cutting or mocking remark used to criticize indirectly, often with bitter humor.
彼の皮肉は時に人の気持ちを傷つける。
His sarcasm sometimes hurts people's feelings.
彼女は皮肉を込めて『さすがね』と言った。
She said 'well done' with sarcasm.
彼のスピーチには皮肉が多く含まれていた。
His speech contained a lot of irony.
Used as '皮肉な' to indicate something contrary to expectations; an ironic twist of fate (common phrase: '皮肉なことに...').
皮肉なことに、彼が最も心配していたことが起こった。
Ironically, what he worried about most actually happened.
交通渋滞で遅刻しないよう早く出たのに、皮肉にも事故で遅れてしまった。
I left early to avoid being late due to traffic, but ironically I was delayed by an accident.
Sometimes used figuratively to mean something merely superficial or only on the surface, lacking depth or sincerity.
彼の謝罪は形式的で皮肉にすぎないと感じた。
I felt his apology was just formal and merely superficial.
Archaic/literal meaning: 'skin and flesh' referring to the body; historical usage.
古い医書では『皮肉』という語が文字通り皮膚と肉を指している例がある。
In old medical books there are examples where '皮肉' literally refers to skin and flesh.