oxymoron
[ ok-si-mawr-on, -mohr- ]
/ ˌɒk sɪˈmɔr ɒn, -ˈmoʊr- /
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noun, plural ox·y·mo·ra [ok-si-mawr-uh, -mohr-uh], /ˌɒk sɪˈmɔr ə, -ˈmoʊr ə/, ox·y·mor·ons.Rhetoric.
a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”
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Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?
First appeared around 1750, and is related to the French word “braguette” for the name of codpiece armor.
First appeared in 1610, based on the French word “baguette” for the long loaf of bread.
First appeared in 1555, and is related to the French word “raquette” for a netted bat.
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Origin of oxymoron
OTHER WORDS FROM oxymoron
ox·y·mo·ron·ic [ok-see-muh-ron-ik], /ˌɒk si məˈrɒn ɪk/, adjectiveWords nearby oxymoron
oxyheme, oxyhemochromogen, oxyhemoglobin, oxyhydrogen, oxymetazoline, oxymoron, oxymorphone, oxymyoglobin, oxyneurine, oxyntic, oxyntic cell
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for oxymoron
Before you protest that the phrase is an oxymoron, remember that we’re in the midst of a pandemic whose scope we couldn’t have imagined a little over a year ago.
Will the Pandemic Spawn a New Genre of Cult Classics? Barb and Star Suggests Yes|Stephanie Zacharek|March 6, 2021|TimeAmong scientists, scientific certainty is an oxymoron and the bar for even approaching certainty is extremely high.
Is there really a ‘science of reading’ that tells us exactly how to teach kids to read?|Valerie Strauss|January 26, 2021|Washington PostBeing a progressive safety first marketer shouldn’t be an oxymoron in the current climate — but it is.
As YouTube adopts new standards, the transition from brand safety to suitability is accelerating|Seb Joseph|October 22, 2020|DigidayThat means participatory machine learning is, for now, an oxymoron.
Participation-washing could be the next dangerous fad in machine learning|Amy Nordrum|August 25, 2020|MIT Technology Review
British Dictionary definitions for oxymoron
oxymoron
/ (ˌɒksɪˈmɔːrɒn) /
noun plural -mora (-ˈmɔːrə)
rhetoric an epigrammatic effect, by which contradictory terms are used in conjunctionliving death; fiend angelical
Word Origin for oxymoron
C17: via New Latin from Greek oxumōron, from oxus sharp + mōros stupid
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for oxymoron
oxymoron
[ (ok-see-mawr-on) ]
A rhetorical device in which two seemingly contradictory words are used together for effect: “She is just a poor little rich girl.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.