sarcasm

Cutting remark that is intended to hurt (‘Your granny has a nasty habit of dying whenever there's a maths test’). Nicknames are often cruelly sarcastic, such as calling a very short person Lofty or a very fat one Slim. In these cases the remarks mean the opposite of what they appear to say. They are ironic as well as sarcastic. The terms are often confused. A sarcastic remark may, or may not, be ironic; it has to be deliberately hurtful, even if the hurt is mitigated by humour.