What are six examples of verbal irony in Candide?

Verbal irony is when dialogue (or sometimes narration) appears to say one thing on the surface but really means something else entirely. It is often sarcastic and used for satirical purposes, which is certainly the case in Voltaire's Candide.

"It is demonstrable," said he, "that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end. Observe, for instance, the nose is formed for spectacles, therefore we wear spectacles. The legs are visibly designed for stockings, accordingly we wear stockings. Stones were made to be hewn and to construct castles, therefore My Lord has a magnificent castle; for the greatest baron in the province ought to be the best lodged. Swine were intended to be eaten, therefore we eat pork all the year round: and they, who assert that everything is right, do not express themselves correctly; they should say that everything is best."

This passage from the beginning chapter of Candide spells out the optimist philosophy plainly. Pangloss is saying things like legs were designed for stockings, not the other way around, which comes off as silly. Therefore, Voltaire is mocking the optimistic philosophy, making it appear simple-minded and so specific in the banality of its observations as to be hilarious.

Never was anything so gallant, so well accoutred, so brilliant, and so finely disposed as the two armies. The trumpets, fifes, hautboys, drums, and cannon made such harmony as never was heard in hell itself. The entertainment began by a discharge of cannon, which, in the twinkling of an eye, laid flat about 6,000 men on each side. The musket bullets swept away, out of the best of all possible worlds, nine or ten thousand scoundrels that infested its surface. The bayonet was next the sufficient reason of the deaths of several thousands. The whole might amount to thirty thousand souls. Candide trembled like a philosopher, and concealed himself as well as he could during this heroic butchery.

The narrator describes the battle in heroic, shining terms, and this contrasts with the brutality on display. Once again, the optimistic philosophy is mocked, since such widespread violence is hard to square with goodness.

Oh my dear Pangloss! my beloved master! thou greatest of philosophers! that ever I should live to see thee hanged, without knowing for what!

Candide brings up this lament when Pangloss is killed by hanging at the auto-da-fé. What is ironic about this lament is that Pangloss is decidedly not a great philosopher by Voltaire's standards. His optimistic philosophy is presented as naive at best and dangerous at worst. Candide's not understanding why Pangloss needed to die in the great scheme of things shows a hole in the optimist philosophy, which cannot accommodate the idea that bad things can happen for no greater good.

At length to turn aside the scourge of earthquakes, and to intimidate Don Issachar, my lord inquisitor was pleased to celebrate an auto-da-fé. He did me the honor to invite me to the ceremony. I had a very good seat; and refreshments of all kinds were offered the ladies between mass and the execution.

These lines are from Cunegonde when she tells Candide of her trials in chapter 7. Her description of the auto-da-fé is packed with irony because of how casually she describes it, mentioning having an ideal seat to see the executions or pointing out how there were refreshments offered. That the auto-da-fé follows the holy ritual of the Catholic mass only serves to highlight the hypocrisy of the religious institutions in charge of the executions and tortures, but Cunegonde herself does not seem to note this when discussing the matter.

“I will not suffer,” said the Baron, “such meanness on her part, and such insolence on yours; I will never be reproached with this scandalous thing; my sister’s children would never be able to enter the church in Germany. No; my sister shall only marry a baron of the empire.”

Cunegonde's brother the Baron says this when Candide decides to marry Cunegonde toward the end of the novel. The irony here comes from Cunegonde's decreased desirability (her experiences have made her ugly and bitter) and the Baron's continued snobbery.

There is a concatenation of events in this best of all possible worlds: for if you had not been kicked out of a magnificent castle for love of Miss Cunegonde: if you had not been put into the Inquisition: if you had not walked over America: if you had not stabbed the Baron: if you had not lost all your sheep from the fine country of El Dorado: you would not be here eating preserved citrons and pistachio-nuts.

Pangloss says this near the conclusion of the story, when Candide famously suggests they cultivate their garden. Pangloss's philosophy has not changed from the first chapter, as he continues to go by his silly optimistic perspective. He says that all the horrible events that transpired in the novel, such as rape and torture, were worth it to enjoy eating nuts in their little garden.