The question asks us to find the third word when the given words are arranged in English dictionary order. The words are: IRONY, IONRY, IORNY, INORY.

Sorting Words Alphabetically

To determine the correct order, we compare the words letter by letter from left to right, following the English alphabet sequence.

Step 1: Initial Comparison

All four words start with the letter 'I'.

Step 2: Compare Second Letters

The second letters are R, O, O, N.

• 'N' comes first alphabetically.
• 'O' comes next.
• 'R' comes last.

Based on the second letter:

• The word starting with 'IN' (INORY) comes first.
• The words starting with 'IO' (IONRY, IORNY) come next.
• The word starting with 'IR' (IRONY) comes last.

Step 3: Compare 'IO' Words

We need to sort the words starting with 'IO': IONRY and IORNY.

Compare the third letters: 'N' in IONRY and 'R' in IORNY.

• Since 'N' comes before 'R' in the alphabet, IONRY comes before IORNY.

Step 4: Final Sorted Order

Combining the comparisons, the dictionary order is:

1. INORY
2. IONRY
3. IORNY
4. IRONY

Step 5: Identify the Third Word

In the sorted list, the third word is IORNY.