litotes

American  

[lahy-tuh-teez, lit-uh-, lahy-toh-teez] / ˈlaɪ təˌtiz, ˈlɪt ə-, laɪˈtoʊ tiz /

noun

Rhetoric.

plural

litotes

1. understatement, especially that in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, as in “not bad at all.”

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litotes British  

/ ˈlaɪtəʊˌtiːz /

noun

1. understatement for rhetorical effect, esp when achieved by using negation with a term in place of using an antonym of that term, as in "She was not a little upset" for "She was extremely upset."

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Etymology

Origin of litotes

First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin, from Greek lītótēs “plainness, simplicity, understatement (in rhetoric),” derivative of lītós “smooth, plain, simple”

Example Sentences

I had never heard the word litotes, which means “words doctors use to remind you they’re smarter than you are.”

From Time

If you were feeling technical, you might call it "litotes" and Milton pulls a similar trick in his line: "Love, not the lowest end of human life".

From BBC

It's outlined in general and unemotional terms in the climactic sixth and seventh stanzas, with a faint touch of extra-dry humour in the litotes of "pointed questions", "whoever they had come to see", etc.

From The Guardian

V.—I pardon this epitrope, but pray use less metaphor and more litotes in the prosopography you dedicate to my modest entity— J.—What will you?

From Project Gutenberg

The use of tmesis, asyndeton, anacoluthon, aposiopesis, hyperbaton, hyperbole, litotes, in Latin oratory and poetry.

From Project Gutenberg