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

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

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

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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.

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“The phrase ‘homeless veteran’ should be an American oxymoron,” the complaint said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times