aposiopesis
Americannoun
-
aposiopeses
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of aposiopesis
1570–80; < Late Latin < Greek: literally, a full silence, equivalent to aposiōpē- (verbid stem of aposiōpáein to be fully silent; apo- apo- + siōpáein to be silent) + -sis -sis
Vocabulary lists containing aposiopesis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And the novel's final line, from inside Valentine's head, is a typical and brilliant Fordian aposiopesis: "She was setting out on …" It could end there.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 24, 2012
"So..." said Mr. Carmyle, becoming articulate, and allowed an impressive aposiopesis to take the place of the rest of the speech.
From The Adventures of Sally by Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville)
Raphael, Michael Angelo, Wiertz, Reynolds——” He paused, not in order to produce the effect of a dramatic aposiopesis, but because he could not for the moment remember other names of painters.
From The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol by Ball, Alec
By the same token—but here the figure of aposiopesis is advantageous to me—old Madam Burridge, of my lodgings, has sent me three large forks and one small, which I left behind.
From What I Remember, Volume 2 by Trollope, Thomas Adolphus
Who ever composed with greater spirit and elegance because he could define an oxymoron or an aposiopesis?
From Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay Volume 1 by Trevelyan, George Otto, Sir
The whole plot of the Ciris is in fact unravelled by means of a series of allusions and suggestions, exclamations and soliloquies, parentheses and aposiopeses, interrogations and apostrophes.
From Vergil A Biography by Frank, Tenney
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
