oxymoron

[ok-si-mawr-on, -mohr-]

noun

Rhetoric.

plural

oxymora, oxymorons 

1. a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”

oxymoron

/ ˌɒksɪˈmɔːrɒn /

noun

1. rhetoric an epigrammatic effect, by which contradictory terms are used in conjunction

   living death

   fiend angelical

oxymoron

1. A rhetorical device in which two seemingly contradictory words are used together for effect: “She is just a poor little rich girl.”

Other Word Forms

• oxymoronic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of oxymoron¹

First recorded in 1650–60; from Late Latin oxymorum, from presumed Greek oxýmōron (unrecorded), neuter of oxýmōros (unrecorded) “sharp-dull,” equivalent to oxý(s) “sharp” ( oxy- ¹ ) + mōrós “dull” ( moron )

Word History and Origins

Origin of oxymoron¹

C17: via New Latin from Greek oxumōron, from oxus sharp + mōros stupid

Example Sentences

At this point, women’s boxing is pretty much an oxymoron, but Jim is bright enough to spot an opportunity when it’s standing right in front of him.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But as David Nasaw’s “The Wounded Generation” makes emphatically clear, a good war is an oxymoron.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When four top film studio musicians formed the Hollywood String Quartet in the late 1930s, its name was presumed an oxymoron.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Affordable housing is increasingly an oxymoron and a cruel joke.

Read more on Salon

Hell, he got Tulsi Gabbard confirmed by the Senate as the Director of National Intelligence – and most Democrats thought uttering her name and the word “intelligence” in a sentence was an oxymoron.

Read more on Salon